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Longtime USF broadcaster retiring after 2025 football season
For the last 43 years there has hardly been a touchdown scored or inning pitched at USF that wasn't broadcasted over the airwaves by one voice. FOX 13's Sean Barie reports.
TAMPA - For the last 43 years, there has hardly been a touchdown scored or inning pitched at USF that wasn't broadcast over the airwaves by one voice.
"It wasn't my goal when it started," said USF play-by-play broadcaster Jim Louk.
In 1983, Louk was a radio station DJ in Tampa when his station, which carried USF basketball games at the time, offered him the chance to call Bulls basketball.
The then 25-year-old jumped at the chance to get into the world of sports broadcasting.
"This was many years before the Selmon Center, many years before (USF) was playing football, so it was a different atmosphere," Louk recalls.
Over the next 43 years, Louk was there for every memorable shot made, home run hit, and fumble recovered by the Bulls.
"The College World Series for softball in 2012 was a big deal and all the basketball, the first NCAA Tournament games in '90 and '92," Louk remembers.
The backstory:
Louk didn't imagine staying at USF for 43 years, but his curiosity kept him in the booth for the Bulls.
"There has always been something big around the corner," Louk said.
"We're going to jump conferences. I can't miss that. We're going to start football. I can't miss that. We're going to open up a new baseball stadium. I can't miss that. And all of a sudden it's 43 years."
But now after 43 years in the booth, Louk is ready to retire from his role as the Bulls play-by-play broadcaster at the end of the 2025 football season.
"I do think when you do something for so long, no matter how much you love it, you do get to the point where you are thinking 'What in my life have I not done that I want to do.'" said Louk.
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When Louk arrived at USF back in 1983, the school and its athletics were an unknown in the college sports landscape.
But Louk didn't just watch the Bulls' brand grow, he grew with it.
"It's more than I ever could've dreamed of. Believe me," he said.
Though Louk will be retiring from his full-time position at USF, he can't stay away from the Bulls full-time. Louk still plans to call select basketball and baseball games on ESPN+ while also making some appearances on future football broadcasts.
The Source: FOX 13's Sean Barie interviewed Jim Louk for this story.