A former NFL player filling the role as color commentator for a college women’s basketball team is unusual, but a Terre Haute native is a perfect fit.
Ernie Thompson, a standout football player at Terre Haute North High School and Indiana University, is new to the broadcast waves and he’s loving every minute of it.
Thompson played in 20 NFL games — four during the 1991 season for the Los Angeles Rams and 16 with the Kansas City Chiefs two seasons later. Thompson made a 12-yard touchdown reception for the Rams in 1991.
Thompson has developed his knowledge of the Sycamores’ women’s team since Melanie Boeglin and Kristen Weddle began playing. Thompson, who also has been employed at Gold’s Gym in the past, began off-season training with the Terre Haute natives and ISU standouts when Boeglin and Weddle were ISU sophomores. He has volunteered his time with the program since, getting to know many of the players during summer workouts in 2006.
Thompson’s radio stint began with ISU’s trip to Pine Bluff, Ark., for a game against the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions. With the student broadcasters at WISU-FM 89.7 unable to make that road trip and many others throughout the rest of the season, ISU associate director of media relations Ace Hunt took over play-by-play duties on the road.
Hunt asked Thompson to join him and they’ve called every ISU road game since. Thompson heads on the road today with the team to Springfield, Mo., for Thursday’s game at Missouri State and on to Wichita, Kan., to call the Sycamores against the Wichita State Shockers.
“He travels with us, so we might as well put him to work a little bit,” ISU coach Jim Wiedie said with a wink. “Our fans are really happy that Ace is doing the play-by-play and we’ve got good feedback on Ernie. I think that’s really important to us to have someone that knows and understands us.”
Thompson had plenty of action to carry on to listeners during his first game as the Sycamores poured in a school-record 116 points.
Hunt, thrust into radio action himself, was glad to have some help.
“I certainly didn’t want to go into it alone,” said Hunt. “I asked him to come over. Then when we got home, the fans thought it was pretty good too. He knows more about the program than a lot of people in town realize. He understands what the coaching staff and players are trying to do. He does a good job of conveying that to our listeners.”
The younger brother of Anthony Thompson assisted the entire team with off-season conditioning last summer. You’ll find him stopping by to watch practice as often as possible too.
“Ernie’s been hands on with the conditioning program,” Wiedie said. “His personality is terrific. The players relate to him. They’re comfortable with him. He has a way of getting his point across that they really understand. The results have been terrific. The more our kids have a chance to work with him in the offseason, the better off we’ll be. I hope Ernie stays associated with this program as long as he wants.”
Listed at 5-foot-11 and 244 pounds in his NFL playing days, Thompson doesn’t claim to have been a great high school basketball player for coach Jim Jones at North. But his athleticism was an asset.
Which current ISU women’s player would he compare himself to?
“I like Kara [Schilli] so much,” Thompson said. “I liken my game to hers. We have the shots, just not confidence in our shots, but run the floor well … a defensive specialist per say.”
Strictly a volunteer for ISU and the women’s basketball program, Thompson was made a full-time employee of the Vigo County School Corp. last month. He is officially assistant coordinator for Project 48 — a program started by Superintendent Dan Tanoos to lessen the number of dropouts.
Thompson is enjoying his work with young people. Growing up poor, Thompson said, “We had every reason to drop out. We didn’t have anything. We had each other to lean on. That’s how we made it.”
Thompson, who also found himself in some trouble as a 21-year-old in Los Angeles on his own, said he can relate to any problem a teenager can throw at him.
“It’s another way I can reach the young kids,” he said. “There’s nothing they can say or do that I can look down on them. That’s something that comes across when I’m talking to them.”
As well as dealing with kids that have already dropped out of school, Thompson meets with elementary-school-aged kids. Starting on them at a young age might prevent problems later on.
The ISU women’s team has a group of several hundred children called the Sycamore Squad that the team visits with after games. Many of the kids also know Thompson from school.
“They say hi at ISU games. It’s one of our common denominators. It’s a segue to conversations,” Thompson said. “When I talk about the Lady Sycamores, it makes youngsters eyes light up.”
Thompson hasn’t thought too much about pursuing a future in radio.
“I love what I’m doing now, working with the kids,” he said.
The former football star is literally one of the team’s biggest fans and respects the work the coaching staff has put in to building the program.
“We didn’t rebuild,” Thompson said. “We just reloaded. The talent hasn’t dropped off. This year’s team just needs to start getting that courage, that determination.”
• More radio coverage — ISU would like to see the women’s basketball games picked up by a commercial station, Hunt said, adding that “WISU will always be a part of the program.”
In his first year as station manager at ESPN Radio, Brent Holl said Tuesday it’s definitely something the station would be interested in pursuing.
Craig Pearson can be reached after 4 p.m. at (812) 231-4356 or by e-mail at craig.pearson@tribstar.com.
Given to Fly
February 6, 2007
Given to Fly: Bringing a different slant to radio broadcasts
- Given to Fly
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GIVEN TO FLY: Come to expect new standards of excellence
Records are definitely meant to be broken; athletes today are faster and stronger than those in the past in many endeavors in athletics.
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GIVEN TO FLY: ISU women have solid recruiting class
The caliber of athletes that the Indiana State women’s basketball coaching staff is bringing in is on an upswing.
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GIVEN TO FLY: Major leaguers John, Dorsett meet up at tonight’s game
Terre Haute’s only two big leaguers of the last 50 years — Tommy John and Brian Dorsett — will catch up with one another today.
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FOOT NOTES: Valley natives perform well on national stage
Several Wabash Valley natives continue to shine on the national track and field scene.
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'Til It's Over: Sycamores ‘in a good place,’ but searching for more in MVC
Can Teri Moren lift Indiana State, last year’s seventh-place team in the Missouri Valley Conference, to one of the league’s contenders in her first year on campus?
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'Til It's Over: Two sets of identical twins should keep North Central baseball a contender
The last high school baseball team standing in the Wabash Valley was the North Central, the Thunderbirds falling short 4-3 in the Class A Semistate on Saturday just one game shy of Victory Field.
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'Til It's Over: Jarvis, Anderson confident Olney, hard work leads to Division I dream
Olney, Ill., population 8,000-plus and known for its population of white squirrels, might not be the dream destination for high school basketball players in Indiana.
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'Til It's Over: Robinson 7-footer more focused in postseason; 6-foot Jones keeps producing
Robinson 7-footer Meyers Leonard is not going to be the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA some day, but his odds of reaching the league are pretty solid if his game continues to evolve as it has during high school.
- 'Til It's Over: ‘Stepping stone’ game points Sycamores in right direction Whether the win comes against a top-25 team or a conference pushover, ending a four-game losing streak is always a relief.
- 'Til It's Over: Indianapolis ISU recruit rolling along in senior season As Indiana State recruit Anna Munn approached Christmas with the Decatur Central basketball team, the senior guard didn’t seem to need much of a wishlist.
- 'Til It's Over: Magic’s still there for '79 Sycamores For the former Indiana State players who visited the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in late November, the weekend was a chance to relive memories with teammates and see Larry Bird’s career with the Sycamores celebrated again.
- CRAIG PEARSON: North has strong history in cross country state finals Vigo County is home to just four IHSAA state championships in team sports. Most recently, Terre Haute South won girls titles in basketball (2002) and tennis (2001).
- 'Till It's Over: It’s been rough year but no need to break up Cubs' core Chicago Cubs general manager Jim Hendry is only in the first year of a three-year contract, and aren’t back-to-back division championships enough to keep him around despite this year’s season filled with bad luck?
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You might have heard of the Indiana Pacers’ 2009 first-round draft pick. He was on the television once in a while during his four-year career at North Carolina.
- 'Til It's Over: Bertoli, Moore put on show in abundance of events “Anthony and Erica” may not have the marketing capability of “Dan and Dave,” but neither of Indiana State’s outstanding multi-event participants had let-down performances this weekend in the Missouri Valley Conference Championships.
- ‘Walking wounded’: ISU seniors return to provide spark All three ISU seniors will graduate in May, and all three will be in uniform today as Indiana State battles Bradley in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament quarterfinals.
- Given to Fly: Northview standout runner Thacker coming to ISU Doc Brown told an old-timer in a saloon in “Back to the Future III” that despite having automobiles in the future people run for recreation.
- Given to Fly: Schilli’s Rodman-like performance aids ISU With Indiana State’s women’s basketball team ranking eighth in the Missouri Valley Conference in field-goal percentage (36.5), the Sycamores need as many shot attempts as possible to maintain their standing on top of the league.
- Given to Fly: A classic in every sense of the word What tournament director and co-founder Gary Fears had in mind when creating the tournament came to fruition Tuesday. Marshall, with an enrollment of 438 students, became the smallest school to win the Pizza Hut Wabash Valley Classic in the ninth season of the tourney.
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Given to Fly: ISU women should build confidence off strong outing
Indiana State did not pull off the monumental upset Saturday against No. 23 Kansas State, but the Wildcats are —aside from Connecticut in 2005 — the best team the Sycamores have played in the Jim Wiedie era.
- Given to Fly: ISU women's hoops team slides onto commercial radio Coach Jim Wiedie expects the Indiana State women’s basketball team to have a bit of a retro feel this season, meaning the Sycamores have the potential to get back to creating havoc with their full-court press.
- Given to Fly: ISU vets hope to prove pundits wrong Indiana State’s only two seniors were surprised to see they were picked ahead of just three Missouri Valley Conference women’s basketball teams Tuesday morning.
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Footnotes: In first marathon, former Sycamore comes out a winner
Indiana State graduate Dani Prince made her debut in the event with a victory in the Columbus Marathon on Sunday.
Prince’s goal was a time under 2 hours and 50 minutes, and she ran a 2:48.56. -
Given To Fly: ISU volleyball turning things around
It was an extremely busy weekend for Indiana State athletics this weekend.
- Footnotes: Here’s hoping perfect weather is still around for Nationals in November The weather made for a perfect fall afternoon Saturday at LaVern Gibson Championship Course. For what it’s worth, the Farmer’s Almanac calls for more sunny conditions from Nov. 20-24, with the NCAA Championships falling on the 24th this year.
- Terre Haute natives cherish memories of ‘House that Ruth Built’ Yankee Stadium was packed as usual on Easter Sunday in 1979. George Steinbrenner’s Yankees were one loss away from being swept by the Milwaukee Brewers to start the season. That was no way for the two-time defending World Series champions to perform, so the boss had a conversation with his new veteran left-handed starting pitcher prior to the game.
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Footnotes: Oregon men and women have strangehold on preseason NCAA cross countryrankings
The Oregon men and women were almost both unanimous picks as the No. 1 teams in the nation in the preseason cross country national rankings released recently.
- Given to Fly: Bronze medalist has strong ISU ties One of the remarkable American medalists of this 2008 Olympics thus far also provided one of the most sparkling stories in the brief history of the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course here in Terre Haute.
- Former ISU QB gets back to Amarillo This week, Indiana State signed its most highly-touted football prospect in years, and former quarterback Julian Reese is ripping it up for the Amarillo Dusters of Arena2.
- Indiana State track sending strong group to NCAA regional Three sophomore women and three senior men lead a large Indiana State contingent of track and field athletes into the NCAA Mideast Regional this weekend at Fayetteville, Ark.
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