A man of opportunity, Greer says he
has made the most of each chance he has had to pursue his love of basketball, playing
in both high school and at the collegiate level at Westminster College.
Despite lacking the prototypical
height early in high school, Greer says a late growth spurt helped make his
desire to play collegiate basketball a reality.
“I grew a little bit in my junior
and senior year,” he said. “So, thankfully, I grew and that allowed me to play
D-III in college—it wasn’t a scholarship program, but it still allowed me the
opportunity to play.”
Now a graduate student in the
Broadcast and Digital Journalism program at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse
School of Public Communications, Greer says he hopes his latest opportunity at
Syracuse University will get him where he wants to go as a professional.
“I’m hoping that I can consider
myself a professional in some area, and, maybe one day, have a radio show just
to talk about sports,” he said.
Greer isn’t going to limit himself
to just radio while at Syracuse, though. Even though he is studying broadcast
journalism, he says he’s open to other opportunities that may come his way.
“I don’t think I have a specific
dream in mind yet,” he said. “I’m pretty open to any opportunity that may come
and maybe within the program I’ll find something I’m more passionate about than
something else.”
Full transcript:
Q:
Tell me more about your sports career and how you fell in love with sports,
starting with what you played.
A:
Growing up I always played basketball—my dad was a coach. Everyone in my family
played basketball so I played through grade school, high school, college. That
was probably my most passionate sport that I loved playing. I also played
baseball a little bit and I ended up quitting before high school because I
realized I wasn’t good enough to hit. I could probably throw people out from
the outfield, but the problem was you have to hit off-speed pitches and that
wasn’t my forte. I stuck with basketball. I played soccer a little bit when I
was younger and then the other sports that I like are hockey and football,
also, but those ones are a little too physical and my mom was scared because of
my small stature that I would suffer serious injuries so basketball was
probably the main one.
Q:
You played basketball in high school and in college, elaborate on that career a
little more.
A:
I played in high school—I made the freshman team my freshman year and my
sophomore year I actually moved up to the varsity team. That was more a product
of not so much my level of play but that we didn’t have enough players so I was
thrust into a starting role as a sophomore in one of the biggest
classifications in western Pennsylvania. So, it was a bit of a struggle playing
against better players, but I would like to think it prepared me and allowed me
to get enough of a look at a D3 program where I ended up playing at
Westminster. The coach thought I would be good enough to play. I grew a little
bit in my junior year and senior year so that helped out, being that you
weren’t 5’5’’ and you could just be tall. So, thankfully I grew and that allowed
me to play D3 in college—it’ wasn’t a scholarship program, but it still allowed
me the opportunity to play.
Q:
Obviously, being from Pittsburgh, you’re going to be a big Steelers fan and a
big Pirates fan—elaborate on that fandom a little bit.
A:
Well, about from my house to the stadiums at PNC Park and Heinz Field where the
Steelers and Pirates play it’s probably only 15 or 20 minutes—maybe. I kind of
grew up around Pittsburgh and watching all those sports and being around the
culture. They have one of the most passionate fan-bases in the country,
particularly for the Steelers in western Pennsylvania. You know, football is
the God sport if you want to put it that way. I grew up watching them and
despite the Pirates being bad, and the Penguins almost losing their franchise,
the fan base has found a way to stick with them and we’re hoping—the Penguins
got a couple good players, they got Sidney Crosby who has panned out—and the
Pirates they look like it might be the year, but that is very cautiously
optimistic right now because these past two years you thought it would be the
year. But I’m still pulling for them.
Q:
Where things get interesting are where your allegiances for basketball lie, as obviously
there is no pro team in the NBA near Pittsburgh. So, why don’t you elaborate a
little bit more on your Boston Celtics fandom.
A:
Well, as you said, there is no professional team near Pittsburgh. Probably the
closest would be the Cleveland Cavaliers, but that’s still not very close to
Pittsburg. So I grew up watching the Celtics and enjoying their teams and
during my years it was mostly Paul Pierce and guys like that. My dad actually
liked the prime teams of the 80s with Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parrish
and from him being a fan of them I grew to like them and kind of adopted them
and our family adopted them as our pro team. It was kind of an odd choice but
looking back on it made sense that we watched Celtics games and we really liked
those players. Being from Pittsburgh, it’s not really a huge basketball town so
kind of pick your team and stick with them.
Q:
You’re a BDJ major here and you were a Communication/Broadcast major at
Westminster, what have you been looking forward to doing with all this
experience you’re getting behind the mic?
A:
Well, I’m hoping with the experience it will increase the level of talent that
I have and I can improve and get to the point where I can consider myself a
professional and I’d like to think I made strides in my undergrad and bigger
strides here with the reputation that Newhouse has and I don’t think I have a
specific dream in mind just yet—I’m pretty open to any opportunity that may
come and maybe within the program I’ll find something I’m more passionate about
than something else. But, I think with the BDJ and the SCE that I’m on the
right path and the program here at Syracuse really speaks for itself. You don’t
have to look far to find the number of famous alumni that they’ve had here. I’m
hoping that one day I can be added to that list, maybe, somewhere in the middle.
I don’t know if I can reach the top of the most famous broadcasters they’ve
had, but I’d like to be up there someday.
Q:
How big of an influence was the SCE program in getting you to come to Newhouse?
A:
I would say it was a very big influence because of the experience I had with my
undergrad. I covered some football and basketball college games and also at the
high school level and I really enjoyed doing that maybe more so than the news
side of things, but I did enjoy doing that. The SCE program here was second to
none and I thought it would really put me over the top and give me the
experience to find the area—maybe online, video or television and maybe if it’s
not sports it’s a station somewhere. You pay your dues and find your spot somewhere
and maybe one day all the work would pay off.
Q:
It seems like you’re a man of opportunity. What are you hoping for when all
this is done?
A:
I’m hoping that I can consider myself a professional in some area and maybe one
day having a radio show, just to talk about sports. Whether it be—and if it
were to be in Pittsburgh, that’s a great opportunity. But it would be better if
it was something national. I’m hoping that one day I can reach that level and
look back and say ‘You know, there were a couple things I would have liked to
have been doing better than what I was doing at the time, but it ended up
paying off and hopefully I can see the path to a career I’ve picked know I took
the opportunities at the right times to get there’.
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