As the Ole Miss softball team kicks off its home slate this weekend at the Ole Miss Classic, the Rebels are excited to announce this season’s team of talent for SEC Network+ productions.
Will Kollmeyer will once again handle play-by-play duties on local SEC Network+ softball events, and former North Carolina Tar Heel Brittany McKinney will join him upstairs as this season’s primary color analyst. Ole Miss women’s basketball radio play-by-play voice Graham Doty will serve on the broadcast team for select games throughout the season.
McKinney is a former assistant coach at UNC Greensboro and North Carolina State. In her stint at UNCG, she helped the Spartans to three-straight winning seasons, and also led multiple student-athletes to all-conference honors.
Prior to her coaching stops, McKinney played two seasons with the Carolina Diamonds, and one season with expansion NJ/NY Comets of the National Pro Fastpitch Softball League. In 2011, she led the squad in average (.298) and RBI (11) as a rookie. She was also one of two members of the team to be named to the NPF All-Star squad.
Prior to her professional career, McKinney notched a successful college career at North Carolina, starting all four years at catcher and in the DH slot for the Tar Heels. As a sophomore in 2009, she earned second team All-ACC honors after earning a .305 batting average and throwing out 19 of 27 base stealers from behind the plate.
McKinney recently received recognition outside the softball world, though, becoming the first female hired by the City of Oxford Fire Department.
As part of McKinney’s current career and her background in collegiate softball, Ole Miss softball will host Firefighter Fridays throughout the season, beginning March 4. Members of the Oxford Fire Department will be in attendance at each Fridayhome game to interact with fans, provide educational materials, and give away small prizes.
Kollmeyer has been part of the SEC Network since it launched in August 2014. He was previously the director of public relations, marketing and sports information at Itawamba Community College for 10 years, where he was also the “Voice of the Indians” for its 70-plus annual radio broadcasts and hosted and produced two ICC Athletics updates each weekday morning on WAFM 95.7 FM (Amory).
A native of Madison, Wisconsin, Kollmeyer’s career highlights include interning with CNN Sports, hosting a halftime segment on the Jefferson Pilot SEC basketball Game of the Week, serving 18 years as sports director at WTVA and more than three years as sports director at WCBI.
Kollmeyer was the youngest sports director in NBC affiliate history when he accepted the job with WTVA at the age of 21. He received Associated Press awards in anchoring or reporting or both in 20 of his 21 years in the TV business.
He has also freelanced for Comcast cable stations throughout the south, has provided national updates for key SEC football games for Fox Sports Radio in the last seven years and was the only TV sportscaster in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and Louisiana who had Heisman Trophy and Wooden Award votes.
For a complete listing of Ole Miss home contests, visit the Rebels’ schedule page on OleMissSports.com. All home games will be made available on WatchESPN as part of the local SEC Network+ production.
For all Ole Miss Softball news and information, go to OleMissSports.com and follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissSoftball, on Facebook at Ole Miss Softball and on Instagram at Instagram.com/olemisssoftball. Fans can also follow head coach Mike Smith on Twitter at @msmithsb16. Additionally fans can get a behind the scenes look at Ole Miss Athletics on Snapchat under the handle, @WeAreOleMiss.
Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports
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