OKLAHOMA CITY, July 12, 2010 – The Oklahoma City Thunder has announced the hiring of Kelly Crull as a Thunder broadcaster. She comes to the organization from KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City, where she has been a sportscaster since 2008.
Crull will join the broadcast team of Brian Davis, Grant Long and Matt Pinto for coverage of the Thunder.
"Kelly will be a terrific addition to our broadcast team,” said Ken Adelson, senior vice president and executive producer for the Thunder.
“She brings poise, personality and a great sports background to our broadcasts. Along with reports from the sidelines during game broadcasts, we can look forward to Kelly hosting portions of our pregame, halftime and postgame show.
She will also provide feature stories for game broadcasts and for thunder.nba.com, contribute to our weekly ‘Air Thunder’ program, connect directly with fans through blogs and other social media on thunder.nba.com and serve as a Thunder ambassador in the community.”
As a sports reporter and anchor for KOCO, Oklahoma City’s ABC affiliate, Crull has provided extensive coverage of the Thunder as well as a variety of athletics at the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University. She began her sportscasting career at WLFI-TV in West Lafayette, Ind., where she covered Purdue athletics, the Chicago Bears, the Indianapolis Colts and the Indianapolis 500.
An Indiana native, Crull was introduced to basketball and NBA action at a very young age. In high school, she played both basketball and tennis. Although Crull said her free throws were top-notch, it was her serving skills in tennis that landed her a scholarship at the University of Missouri. Crull played tennis for the Tigers and majored in Broadcast Journalism, specializing in sports broadcasting.
"I am thrilled to be joining the Thunder organization,” Crull said. “With this young, talented group of players and a tremendous fan base, I can't imagine a more exciting team to follow.”
Adelson praised Crull’s predecessors with the Thunder organization.
“We would like to thank Elissa Walker-Campbell and Tom Werme for making significant contributions to the team last season as sideline reporters,” he said. “Due to their personal situations, neither of them could be considered for the permanent position, but we wish them well, and anticipate Elissa joining us on select broadcasts from the FOX Sports Oklahoma studios.”
Crull will begin with the Thunder in late August.