Keith Elkins
Podcast HostKeith Elkins has an extensive background in broadcasting and public relations. He retired in 2017 after nine years as director of broadcasting and media relations for the Lexington Legends. He was the radio play-by-play announcer for the Legends, who played a 140-game schedule in the South Atlantic League as a class A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. For 15 seasons, he was heard on halftime and postgame shows as the studio anchor on University of Kentucky basketball broadcasts on the UK sports network.Keith is a former television sports anchor and reporter with WLEX-TV in Lexington. Later, as a member of the University of Kentucky public relations staff, he produced and narrated many television features and promotional announcements on behalf of the university. Keith also has served as director of public relations at Transylvania University and worked in marketing communications with Wyncom, Inc. of Lexington. He returned to UK as director of communications in the UK College of Engineering, and was the editor of the College of Engineering alumni magazine, Quadrangle. He has served as host of the WUKY Sports Page podcast since 2019.Keith is a native of Bedford, Indiana, a graduate of the University of Kentucky and a longtime Lexington resident. He has two adult sons and two grandsons.
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In celebration of Opening Day in Cincinnati we present this conversation between Keith Elkins and Reds play-by-play announcer John Sadak. The two discuss his long and varied sportscasting career which now includes calling the action for professional baseball's oldest franchise. -
Tom Hammond recently retired after a distinguished career in sports broadcasting with NBC. A University of Kentucky graduate, he got his start on radio in his hometown of Lexington, and began his television career as sports director at WLEX-TV in the late 1960s.This conversation covers, among other topics, the early assignments he handled in Lexington, the variety of events he broadcast to a network audience, and some of the partners he worked with over his 34 years with NBC. -
In the mid-1990s, Brooks Downing was the sports information director for men’s basketball at the University of Kentucky, where he worked closely with coaches Rick Pitino and Tubby Smith during a run that included two national championships. Today, he’s a sports entrepreneur, the founder and president of bdG Sports, a marketing and event management company that has established a strong presence in college basketball and professional golf with events across the U.S. and in the Bahamas. He’s a UK graduate and a Lexington native. -
COVID-related decisions, changes in technology, the introduction of new sports activities — that’s just a small sample of the endless variety of challenges Julian Tackett has faced in his 12-plus years as commissioner of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association and 39 years overall with the KHSAA. In this conversation with Keith Elkins, he talks about those issues, as well as his background, which was influenced by his work with sports figures such as former University of Kentucky football coach Jerry Claiborne, longtime UK sports information director Russell Rice, and former Transylvania basketball coach Don Lane, among many others. -
This week on the WUKY SportsPage Keith Elkins chats with new UK Athletics Hall of Famer Derek Bryant who played baseball for the Big Blue and then a successful career in Major League Baseball. -
As Kentucky’s quarterback, Pookie Jones helped lead the Wildcats to the 1993 Peach Bowl. He is a former Kentucky Mr. Football from Calloway County High School, and was recruited by Penn State, Nebraska and Tennessee among others before choosing UK. He was also a UK baseball star, and played professionally in the Colorado Rockies organization. In this interview, he talks about his two-sport UK career, the Wildcats run to the Peach Bowl, life in baseball’s minor leagues, and his current part-time coaching position at West Jessamine High School, where his son Jacob is a highly regarded college prospect. -
On the eve of what many fans hope to be a successful football season, Keith talks with Tony Neely, assistant athletics director for athletics communications and public relations at the University of Kentucky. In this conversation, he talks about his relationships with coaches and players, the ever-changing environment in sports communications, and the occasional bad-news situations that every public relations official encounters. He also pays tribute to C.M. Newton, former UK athletics director and Vanderbilt basketball coach, who had an important role in his career. A breakfast meeting with Newton and former Alabama basketball coach Wimp Sanderson provided a memorable experience. -
Jim Andrews was recently elected to the University of Kentucky Athletics Hall of Fame. He played basketball at UK from 1970-73. In three seasons -- freshmen were not eligible for varsity play at that time – he had 43 double-doubles, third in UK history behind Dan Issel and Cotton Nash. He averaged a double-double in each of his last two seasons – 21.5 ppg and 11.3 rpg as a junior, and 20.1 and 12.4 his senior year. The Wildcats won SEC championships in all three of his seasons, and he earned first team all-SEC honors in both his junior and senior years. In this conversation, he talks about his recruitment by UK (it included some help from a gas station attendant who was filling up assistant coach Joe B. Hall’s car on a recruiting trip), the transition from Adolph Rupp to Hall as head coach, the matchups with rival Tennessee at a time when only the conference champion made the NCAA tournament, and how the uncertainty and eventual demise of the ABA affected his professional career. He also covered his international experience in the professional ranks, and his relationships with UK teammates, including Tom Payne, the first African-American to play at Kentucky. -
Alan Stein may be best known for bringing professional baseball back to Lexington in 2001 as the founder of the Lexington Legends, but he has a long list of interests and accomplishments. Keith Elkins catches up with the 'newly retired' businessman who appears to be busier than ever. -
A first-team All-American defensive end at Kentucky, Art Still helped lead the 1977 Wildcats to a 10-1 record, including a 6-0 mark in the SEC. He was named first-team All-SEC in 1976 and 1977. He is a member of the University of Kentucky Athletics Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame. A first-round draft choice by the Kansas City Chiefs in 1978, and second overall pick in the draft, he played 12 seasons in the NFL and was a four-time Pro Bowl selection. He is a member of the Chiefs’ Hall of Honor and the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. In this conversation, he recalls highlights from his college and professional career – including the great 1977 season at UK – and remembers some of the teammates and coaches that not only helped him achieve success on the field, but also helped him gain – and give – greater understanding about the different backgrounds that each brought to UK.
