by JP Pelzman
John Fanta stood on the court at Madison Square Garden, interviewing Kevin Willard moments after Seton Hall had beaten Villanova to win the 2016 Big East tournament title.
“I had complete goose bumps,” Fanta recalled in an interview with Piratecrew.com. “It was the ultimate low to ultimate high in a year’s time.”
Still, he admits, “I don’t think I understood the magnitude of it at the time.”
How could he? Fanta hadn’t been born the last time the Pirates had captured the Big East title, back in 1993. Then again, Fanta does know about long droughts between championships.
He is from Cleveland, after all.
So how did a kid from Cleveland wind up working for Fox Sports 1 and the Big East Network at the age of 23? Well, it took a lot of hard work, a little good fortune, plus the chances Fanta got at Seton Hall University.
“Seton Hall is a place of opportunity,” Fanta said.
But long before Fanta came to South Orange (and to your TV screens soon afterward), he had made up his mind about his future career path. His passion for sports and sports broadcasting came about at an early age, he said.
Growing up, Fanta said, “I just lived on Cleveland sports. I would eat, sleep and breathe Cleveland sports. I thought it was so cool that people got paid to talk about it.”
Those people included the longtime voices of Cleveland sports, Tom Hamilton (Indians), Jim Donovan (Browns) and the retired Joe Tait, who used to broadcast the Cavaliers. And on a familial level, there was his grandfather, John Coughlin, now 87.
“We would talk almost every night on the phone” about Cleveland sports, Fanta said. “Luckily, I still have him to talk to.”
Fanta’s father, Gerry, played football at St. Ignatius High School, a Catholic boys school, in the late 1980s and also played at Mercyhurst (Pa.) University. The younger Fanta also went to St. Ignatius, where he, too, played football for two seasons.
But when it wasn’t football season, Fanta found himself coming home from school at 3:30 every day and his father told him, “you need to figure out something to do.”
The solution was obvious. He soon joined the St. Ignatius Broadcasting Club, which now, as it was then, is moderated by Jeff McCormick of the school’s advancement office. McCormick assigned Fanta to work the camera at junior varsity games.
It was here that Fanta got a break. The play-by-play voice for the JV games abruptly quit, so Fanta got a very fast promotion.
By the end of that 2011 fall season, he was calling playoff football games for the St. Ignatius varsity, which was en route to its 11th state title. Fanta went on to broadcast approximately 200 sporting events at St. Ignatius, and still remembers and carries with him the lessons learned there.
“It was really good experience,” he says, “in knowing how to interact with coaches, athletes and parents, and knowing the trust people have in you, and living up to that trust.”
When it came time to choose a college, Fanta also considered Fordham, St. Bonaventure and Syracuse, the latter renowned having one of the most prestigious broadcast journalism programs in the country. But he eventually landed at Seton Hall, and it was the pitch that he got from the communications department that swayed him.
“What stood out about Seton Hall,” he recalled, “was the way they were willing to give me opportunities. They said, you don’t have to wait two years to get on the air. I knew if I got the opportunity, I’d make the most of it and be as good a person on the air as off the air.”
Much like during his tenure at St. Ignatius, an unforeseen circumstance thrust Fanta into a larger role rather quickly. And once again, he ran with it.
On Sept. 13, 2013, Seton Hall played Princeton in women’s soccer. The game had been re-scheduled because of a storm the day before, and Pirate Sports Network needed someone to do play-by-play because the persons scheduled to do it were unavailable. PSN also couldn’t tap into WSOU’s feed because the radio station was doing a men’s soccer game on the road.
Fanta had all of two minutes to decide. Of course, he chose to do it, just as he had at St. Ignatius two years before.
Naturally, it turned out to be a scoreless draw, leaving him with plenty of time to fill. He recalled pulling up other Seton Hall Athletics team pages on the school’s sports website, and filling in listeners on what was upcoming for those squads.
“I pulled up the men’s basketball schedule and talked about the first few non-conference games. ‘The Prudential Center will be rocking.’”
Afterward, he said that senior associate athletics director Jimmy O’Donnell told Fanta it was “probably the best student broadcast he’d heard in over 10 years. (And know this--O’Donnell, a mainstay of the SHU athletic department since 1988, doesn’t specialize in hyperbole.)
Fanta’s on-air presence continued to increase, and he got his first chance to be on-camera during the 2014 Big East tournament. With some people away on spring break, then-sports information director Steve Dombroski asked Fanta to do on-camera post-game interviews for Pirate Sports Network.
That included the Pirates’ shocking quarterfinal upset win over top-seeded Villanova. Fanta recalls it as “pandemonium” and said that video got more than 25,000 views.
“This is crazy,” he remembered thinking.
“I was starting to get some visibility,” he said.
Fanta got even more in his sophomore year at The Hall when he began working for the Big East Digital Network in addition to his on-campus media duties, which included Pirate Sports Network, WSOU and The Setonian. In the summer of 2016, prior to his senior year, he interned at FOX Sports headquarters in Los Angeles.
Since graduating in 2017 with a B.A. in Journalism, he has joined Fox Sports 1 and continues to work on the Big East Digital Network.
One particular thrill, he said, has been to work with Andy Katz, whom a then-much younger Fanta used to watch when Katz was on ESPN.
“I told him,” Fanta said, “I grew up watching your show. It’s really humbling to get to work with people like that.”
And just as he did at SHU, Fanta enjoys telling the stories of the student-athletes whose chosen sports don’t get the attention that men’s basketball does.
“They allow me to have a level of autonomy” in choosing features for the conference’s digital network, Fanta said. In a clickbait world in which collegiate Olympic sports aren’t getting as much attention as in the past, Fanta enjoys “telling powerful stories that otherwise don’t get those platforms.”
One he cited was St. John’s infielder Brandon Bossard, whose father and grandfather have enjoyed a mini-dynasty as White Sox groundskeepers, beginning with Bossard’s grandfather in 1968.
“I get the platform to tell that story,” Fanta proudly said.
Fanta’s alma mater has an excellent chance for a platform of its own--a raised one--when the 2020 Big East tournament takes place at Madison Square Garden next March.
With star Myles Powell now officially back in the fold, “we’re talking about a team that can be a top 5 seed” in the NCAAs, Fanta said, noting that in addition to his many other talents, Powell gives The Hall “an alpha male who has proven he can win games late.”
He added that Florida State transfer Ike Obiagu will be a presence on defense, but said people shouldn’t minimize the leadership provided by the graduated Mike Nzei. Fanta would rank the Pirates anywhere from 15 to 20 entering the season.
He thinks the conference can get at least five NCAA bids next year, and is especially intrigued by the potential of Xavier--“Naji Marshall is an NBA talent,” he said--and Providence, which brought in UMass transfer Luwane Pipkins to run the point.
“I’m most fascinated with Georgetown,” Fanta said. “Patrick Ewing can coach, and the media following spikes because of him. It’s really interesting.”
As for St. John’s, another original conference member, Fanta said, “They have an AD in Mike Cragg and a head coach in Mike Anderson who are on the same page, and that is the foundation St. John’s needs to get something sustainable started. … Mike Anderson is a winner. He is going to give St. John’s that moment” eventually.
Fanta already has had many terrific moments, and can’t wait for more.
“It’s been a really fun gig,” he said.
Helped along in a big way by his alma mater. Fanta appreciates all the encouragement and help he got as an undergrad at The Hall, including from athletics director Pat Lyons.”
“Pat Lyons’ door literally is open all the time,” Fanta said, “for coaches, athletes, his door is always open. It kind of embodies the whole university culture at Seton Hall.”
A culture that is well-represented by the talented young man from the Buckeye State.
COMMENTS
https://setonhall.rivals.com/
John Fanta stood on the court at Madison Square Garden, interviewing Kevin Willard moments after Seton Hall had beaten Villanova to win the 2016 Big East tournament title.
“I had complete goose bumps,” Fanta recalled in an interview with Piratecrew.com. “It was the ultimate low to ultimate high in a year’s time.”
Still, he admits, “I don’t think I understood the magnitude of it at the time.”
How could he? Fanta hadn’t been born the last time the Pirates had captured the Big East title, back in 1993. Then again, Fanta does know about long droughts between championships.
He is from Cleveland, after all.
So how did a kid from Cleveland wind up working for Fox Sports 1 and the Big East Network at the age of 23? Well, it took a lot of hard work, a little good fortune, plus the chances Fanta got at Seton Hall University.
“Seton Hall is a place of opportunity,” Fanta said.
But long before Fanta came to South Orange (and to your TV screens soon afterward), he had made up his mind about his future career path. His passion for sports and sports broadcasting came about at an early age, he said.
Growing up, Fanta said, “I just lived on Cleveland sports. I would eat, sleep and breathe Cleveland sports. I thought it was so cool that people got paid to talk about it.”
Those people included the longtime voices of Cleveland sports, Tom Hamilton (Indians), Jim Donovan (Browns) and the retired Joe Tait, who used to broadcast the Cavaliers. And on a familial level, there was his grandfather, John Coughlin, now 87.
“We would talk almost every night on the phone” about Cleveland sports, Fanta said. “Luckily, I still have him to talk to.”
Fanta’s father, Gerry, played football at St. Ignatius High School, a Catholic boys school, in the late 1980s and also played at Mercyhurst (Pa.) University. The younger Fanta also went to St. Ignatius, where he, too, played football for two seasons.
But when it wasn’t football season, Fanta found himself coming home from school at 3:30 every day and his father told him, “you need to figure out something to do.”
The solution was obvious. He soon joined the St. Ignatius Broadcasting Club, which now, as it was then, is moderated by Jeff McCormick of the school’s advancement office. McCormick assigned Fanta to work the camera at junior varsity games.
It was here that Fanta got a break. The play-by-play voice for the JV games abruptly quit, so Fanta got a very fast promotion.
By the end of that 2011 fall season, he was calling playoff football games for the St. Ignatius varsity, which was en route to its 11th state title. Fanta went on to broadcast approximately 200 sporting events at St. Ignatius, and still remembers and carries with him the lessons learned there.
“It was really good experience,” he says, “in knowing how to interact with coaches, athletes and parents, and knowing the trust people have in you, and living up to that trust.”
When it came time to choose a college, Fanta also considered Fordham, St. Bonaventure and Syracuse, the latter renowned having one of the most prestigious broadcast journalism programs in the country. But he eventually landed at Seton Hall, and it was the pitch that he got from the communications department that swayed him.
“What stood out about Seton Hall,” he recalled, “was the way they were willing to give me opportunities. They said, you don’t have to wait two years to get on the air. I knew if I got the opportunity, I’d make the most of it and be as good a person on the air as off the air.”
Much like during his tenure at St. Ignatius, an unforeseen circumstance thrust Fanta into a larger role rather quickly. And once again, he ran with it.
On Sept. 13, 2013, Seton Hall played Princeton in women’s soccer. The game had been re-scheduled because of a storm the day before, and Pirate Sports Network needed someone to do play-by-play because the persons scheduled to do it were unavailable. PSN also couldn’t tap into WSOU’s feed because the radio station was doing a men’s soccer game on the road.
Fanta had all of two minutes to decide. Of course, he chose to do it, just as he had at St. Ignatius two years before.
Naturally, it turned out to be a scoreless draw, leaving him with plenty of time to fill. He recalled pulling up other Seton Hall Athletics team pages on the school’s sports website, and filling in listeners on what was upcoming for those squads.
“I pulled up the men’s basketball schedule and talked about the first few non-conference games. ‘The Prudential Center will be rocking.’”
Afterward, he said that senior associate athletics director Jimmy O’Donnell told Fanta it was “probably the best student broadcast he’d heard in over 10 years. (And know this--O’Donnell, a mainstay of the SHU athletic department since 1988, doesn’t specialize in hyperbole.)
Fanta’s on-air presence continued to increase, and he got his first chance to be on-camera during the 2014 Big East tournament. With some people away on spring break, then-sports information director Steve Dombroski asked Fanta to do on-camera post-game interviews for Pirate Sports Network.
That included the Pirates’ shocking quarterfinal upset win over top-seeded Villanova. Fanta recalls it as “pandemonium” and said that video got more than 25,000 views.
“This is crazy,” he remembered thinking.
“I was starting to get some visibility,” he said.
Fanta got even more in his sophomore year at The Hall when he began working for the Big East Digital Network in addition to his on-campus media duties, which included Pirate Sports Network, WSOU and The Setonian. In the summer of 2016, prior to his senior year, he interned at FOX Sports headquarters in Los Angeles.
Since graduating in 2017 with a B.A. in Journalism, he has joined Fox Sports 1 and continues to work on the Big East Digital Network.
One particular thrill, he said, has been to work with Andy Katz, whom a then-much younger Fanta used to watch when Katz was on ESPN.
“I told him,” Fanta said, “I grew up watching your show. It’s really humbling to get to work with people like that.”
And just as he did at SHU, Fanta enjoys telling the stories of the student-athletes whose chosen sports don’t get the attention that men’s basketball does.
“They allow me to have a level of autonomy” in choosing features for the conference’s digital network, Fanta said. In a clickbait world in which collegiate Olympic sports aren’t getting as much attention as in the past, Fanta enjoys “telling powerful stories that otherwise don’t get those platforms.”
One he cited was St. John’s infielder Brandon Bossard, whose father and grandfather have enjoyed a mini-dynasty as White Sox groundskeepers, beginning with Bossard’s grandfather in 1968.
“I get the platform to tell that story,” Fanta proudly said.
Fanta’s alma mater has an excellent chance for a platform of its own--a raised one--when the 2020 Big East tournament takes place at Madison Square Garden next March.
With star Myles Powell now officially back in the fold, “we’re talking about a team that can be a top 5 seed” in the NCAAs, Fanta said, noting that in addition to his many other talents, Powell gives The Hall “an alpha male who has proven he can win games late.”
He added that Florida State transfer Ike Obiagu will be a presence on defense, but said people shouldn’t minimize the leadership provided by the graduated Mike Nzei. Fanta would rank the Pirates anywhere from 15 to 20 entering the season.
He thinks the conference can get at least five NCAA bids next year, and is especially intrigued by the potential of Xavier--“Naji Marshall is an NBA talent,” he said--and Providence, which brought in UMass transfer Luwane Pipkins to run the point.
“I’m most fascinated with Georgetown,” Fanta said. “Patrick Ewing can coach, and the media following spikes because of him. It’s really interesting.”
As for St. John’s, another original conference member, Fanta said, “They have an AD in Mike Cragg and a head coach in Mike Anderson who are on the same page, and that is the foundation St. John’s needs to get something sustainable started. … Mike Anderson is a winner. He is going to give St. John’s that moment” eventually.
Fanta already has had many terrific moments, and can’t wait for more.
“It’s been a really fun gig,” he said.
Helped along in a big way by his alma mater. Fanta appreciates all the encouragement and help he got as an undergrad at The Hall, including from athletics director Pat Lyons.”
“Pat Lyons’ door literally is open all the time,” Fanta said, “for coaches, athletes, his door is always open. It kind of embodies the whole university culture at Seton Hall.”
A culture that is well-represented by the talented young man from the Buckeye State.
COMMENTS
https://setonhall.rivals.com/
