One UF student's dream came true Tuesday night, after he announced the Gator basketball's UF-South Carolina game live on ESPNU.
UF telecommunications senior John Hornbuckle, from Vero Beach, was chosen to sit alongside regular play-by-play commentator Rob Stone and fellow college student Cory Burkharth, a University of South Carolina broadcast major.
This will be Hornbuckle's first attempt at colorful commentary for a major UF game. He was selected based on his prior work for Campus Connection.
"It's not going to be regular stats and breakdowns. We're going to be talking about college life and what it means to be at UF," Hornbuckle, 22, said.
Burkharth will be doing the same but from South Carolina's perspective.
Before the game, Hornbuckle shared his secret for calming the nerves.
"I mean I get nervous, but I take a deep breath and zone everything out," he said, adding that as a Gator fan he is well-prepped for the job ahead.
Hornbuckle said he has followed the team's progress closely and already knows everything about the players and their stats. After discovering he was selected the for spot after the break, Hornbuckle said he immediately called his family to tell them to watch.
He described commentating for the game as the biggest opportunity of his college career.
"It's pretty big. There could be thousands of people watching," Hornbuckle said.
Of all the classes Hornbuckle has taken at UF's College of Journalism and Communications, none of them prepared him for commentary of a major game.
"There are no classes that teach play-by-play commentary, so you have to rely on prior work experience," Hornbuckle said.
"This is a big resume builder. Any time you can say you've been on ESPN, it's a huge confidence boost," he said.
Hornbuckle has also done play-by-play commentary for the Gators softball team since last season, among other things. But doing basketball or football commentary would be his "dream job."
While the athletes do their jobs on the court, Hornbuckle said the announcer has an important role to play, adding the commentator's style can affect the audience's experience in a big way.
The audience depends on the commentators to interpret the game for them, he said.
"People want to be part of the show, so I have to make myself part of the show for them."
