Brendan King ’17 didn’t know what he was in for when he arrived at the Butler Bowl just a few weeks into his first year to cover his first game for butlersports.com.

King was assigned to do the live play-by-play broadcast for the men’s soccer game against Indiana University in September 2013. The Bulldogs won a thrilling victory in double overtime against the Hoosiers in front of a crowd of almost 5,000 people. King knew from that moment on that he had made the right choice in Butler University.

The Mokena, Illinois, native came to Butler as a Journalism major and then switched to Sports Media when Butler first started offering the program his sophomore year.

“Sports Media and the College of Communication have done a fantastic job of preparing me just by the vast majority of activities I’ve gotten involved in whether that’s in the classroom or out of the classroom,” he said.

King says being able to get involved right away like he did was one of the things that drew him to the school. Since his freshman year, King has been a sports reporter for the Butler Collegian and a sports broadcaster for a number of Butler athletic teams.

Outside of the classroom, King has had numerous internship opportunities both in Indianapolis and across the country. He spent summer 2016 in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, working for a minor league baseball team called the Orleans Firebirds. He was the play-by-play broadcaster for the team, developing valuable on-the-job experience during his time there.

In fall of his senior year, King worked as a broadcast intern for 1070 The Fan, a local sports radio station in Indianapolis. After graduation, he spent the summer broadcasting games for the Boise Hawks, the Short-Season Single-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, then returned to Indianapolis and 1070 The Fan, where he’s been filling in. Next season, he will be the number two voice of the South Bend Cubs.

He said he is more than ready to take on a career in the sports broadcasting industry with his Butler education behind him.

“The professors at Butler give you the tools you need in the classroom and the confidence you need to succeed outside the classroom,” King said. “That’s why I think Butler students are so ready.”