In 1975, Dave Weekley wore No. 40 for Bridgeport High School and was the sixth man on the varsity basketball team coached by Bill Kerns.

 

During the last 40 years, he has been on the hardwoods in many universities and professional arenas, broadcasting games for radio and TV audiences.

 

Had someone told the tall, lanky center during his senior year with the Indians that one day he would be nationally known for his media work with ESPN-TV and CBS Radio – and would host his own West Virginia sports talk hotline - he might not have believed it. But even before he played basketball and tennis for BHS, Weekley was inspired to share his love for sports over the radio airwaves. There are a number of occurrences that played a role in that inspiration.

 

It might have been when he delivered newspapers in 1972 - tuned into his transistor radio - and heard Jack Fleming call the classic Immaculate Reception. Or it might have been a Saturday afternoon when he was waiting on his mom to pick him up from his weekly bowling activity at Compton Lanes.

 

“At that time, WHAR was located at the bottom of Bridgeport Hill. There was a long staircase up to the station and one snowy day before my mom got there to get me, I walked up and looked in the window. I saw an announcer who was wearing a white T-shirt and jeans – and didn’t have any shoes on.”

 

That DJ was Al Newton. That image stuck in Weekley’s mind. Wrapped up in sports at Bridgeport Junior High, he got his first inside glimpse of radio – one quite different from the formally-dressed announcer he had pictured while listening to radio in his living room.

 

“At that point, I thought that maybe these people in radio are normal people. Maybe I could aspire to do something like that,” he said.

 

His favorite station continued to be WHAR 1340 AM, the same station that carried Bridgeport High School sports.

 

“I struck up a friendship with Lee Carter – the play-by-play announcer for the Indians at the time. During my junior year, I started driving him to the games and one thing led to another,” he said. “My brother Danny played football. I was the oldest of four, but I was injury prone so my parents were dead set against me playing football. I started announcing the Indians’ games on WHAR and I did that for two years.”

 

During those two years, Weekley also was a member of the Ki-Cu-Wa Yearbook staff and played the title role of Charlie Brown in his senior class play. After high school graduation, he went on to West Virginia University to pursue a degree in journalism.

 

“I still had a taste for radio and did my internship at WPDX in Clarksburg for Mike King,” Weekley said. “I did mid-days for them.”

 

As would become standard protocol in Weekley’s career, one thing led to another. Living in Morgantown’s Sunnyside, he was in close proximity to WCLG radio station on High Street.

 

“So while I finished my undergrad, I worked the graveyard shift there. It was really a lot of fun,” he said.  

 

After finishing at WVU, Weekley found himself back in Clarksburg working with King at WPDX and calling high school football games.

 

“I knew a couple people in local television, but it was really another DJ who tipped me off that Channel 5 was looking for people,” he said.

 

So on to WDTV – located then at the Benedum Airport - he went.

 

“I wandered in there looking for a job and came out with a camera and keys to a car,” he said. “It was kind of off to the races from there.”

 

Weekley was hired as a news reporter, but changed to sports coverage as soon as the opportunity presented itself. He did sports there for three years, the latter portion of that time at WDTV’s new facility.

 

“I was in the last group that broadcasted from the top of Fisher Mountain in Jane Lew and the first group to work in the new facility on Bridgeport Hill,” he said.

 

After working 55 straight weeks in Charleston for Channel 8 Sports Director Rich Roberts - a college classmate – he returned to Clarksburg.

 

“Suddenly, Don Graye left Channel 12 to go to Channel 3 so I went to work at WBOY for Gary Bowden,” Weekley said. “I worked there for six weeks then Rich Roberts left Channel 8 and they brought me back.”

 

Unlike his previous stay in South Charleston – during which time he became married to Linda Hyatt – the second stint lasted for 16 years.

 

“I think the mid- to late-80s was the best time to be in local news because cable penetration was not quite as large and you could really talk about a lot of things,” he said.

 

At the end of 2000, Weekley got out of local news and began freelancing.   

 

“I burned out doing local news and needed a change – to get more focused on doing games,” he said. “I did work for ESPN, Atlanta, Prime Network, FOX Sports South – basically anyone who wanted me to call a game.”

 

One highlight was spending two weekends in Puerto Rico where he called games at the Olympic World Basketball Festival.

 

“Larry Brown coached the USA team and there were all the big NBA stars like Ray Allen and Steve Nash and anyone who was anyone big before the Olympics,” he said.

 

Weekley also called a game at Cameron Indoor Stadium at Duke University, announced West Virginia University games and did work for ESPN Wide World of Sports, calling the Pop Warner Super Bowl held annually at Disney.

 

“That was a great gig,” he said.

 

Weekley’s freelance work also took him to the college baseball NCAA regionals. Through MLB Advanced Media, he worked as a data caster for the Tampa Bay Rays.

 

“If you followed the team on mobile devices at a home game, I was the guy making that work,” he said. “I saw World Series playoff games there – tremendous games. I called probably close to 250 games.”

 

Weekley said he loved living and working in Tampa and it gave him opportunity to make even more media contacts.

 

“I was on CBS Radio in Tampa Bay,” he said. “I worked with some really big-time national talents on that station - Todd Wright, Booger McFarland and Rich Herrera. That was a good group to be part of.”

 

In 2013, Weekley accepted full-time employment with West Virginia Radio Corporation.

 

“I could not be happier with my employers. They are completely supportive,” he said. “Dale Cooper is my producer and I consider him the best radio producer in the state and a lot of other states, as well. We go back to my old nighttime show in Charleston in the ‘90s. I did 6 News on Channel 8 wrap-up. Coop was on those shows so he knows my moves and I know his. He’s been a big part of my success.”

 

There are presently 10 stations under the West Virginia Radio Corporation umbrella – with more in the works for the coming weeks. WVRC also operates within the West Virginia MetroNews Network.

 

Weekley hosts The MetroNews Ram Hotline, which airs statewide from 3-6 p.m. daily. 

 

“People seem to get us and like our format,” he said. “I’m never going to stray too far from sports. That’s my base. But it’s a lot of fun to get out there and talk a little about movies, TV and what people like to eat. We do a question of the day that is real successful. I love hearing people tell me stories.”

 

Weekley is a fantastic host, said Cooper, who in addition to serving as producer for 580 WCHS-AM MetroNews Hotline also holds the position of Charleston Operations Manager and WVRC program director.

 

“Everyone knows him for sports and his pedigree in sports is impressive,” he said. “And he’s well-rounded in most pop culture outside of sports. I think the thing that impressed me - and has translated on-air into a multifaceted and entertaining talk show - is that Dave has a wide variety of interests beyond sports.”

 

He’s able to talk confidently about everything from the Watergate scandal that rocked the Nixon administration to Tina Fey and Amy Poehler honoring Carol Burnett at the Screen Actors Guild Awards.

 

Cooper said Weekley watches – or perhaps studies – a lot of TV and has an incredible depth of music knowledge, financial markets and almost any topic that might arise.

 

“When that is blended with his personal knowledge of sports, who he knows and sports broadcasting, the result is something on the radio that’s never been done before in this state and is just starting to become a thing nationally on talk radio,” he said.

 

The show is an interesting one to host, Weekley said.

 

“Every day, it’s more like a marathon than a sprint,” he said. “We’re not playing records. I have a template that I work off of where basically we collect a lot of really talented regular guests who I can count on and we have a lot of special guests too.”

 

Weekley’s unique interview approach is one thing that makes the show such a hit, Cooper said.

 

“We’ve had so many guests on our show like Alice Cooper, Dennis Miller, Marty Brennaman and others that were obviously impressed with Dave’s questions outside the norm and related unique stories as a result,” he said.

 

While on air with Weekley, Dennis Miller confirmed he was sucker-punched at Mountaineer Field after a Backyard Brawl game, Alice Cooper talked about leaving Raquel Welch for his wife Sheryl Goddard and Marty Brennaman beamed when Weekley swerved from baseball and asked him a question about calling the famous Christian Laettner shot in the Final Four.

 

“It’s good radio,” Cooper said. “Dave’s unique talent to agilely navigate from sports to pop culture sundry is what makes it work.”

 

Other recent MetroNews Ram Hotline guests include Darryl Talley, Kevin Jones and Landau Eugene Murphy Jr., the latter who drops in on a regular basis to sing on the air.

 

Weekley also continues to do off-site work. In February of 2015, he covered the NCAA Women’s Basketball tournament in Orlando, Fla. for ESPN3.

 

Weekley’s parents continue to live in Bridgeport. His mom still has a ceramic basketball player that she painted to look like her son when he played ball for the Indians and Weekley still has the reel-to-reel footage from some of those early games he called back in his old hometown. 

 

Editor's Note: Weekley is shown above with various co-announcers and special guests, as well as photos from the 1976 edition of the "Ki-Cu-Wa" Bridgeport High School yearbook.

 

Julie Perine can be reached at 304-848-7200, julie@connect-bridgeport.com or follow @JuliePerine on Twitter.