Veteran Broadcaster Makes First Call on November 6 vs. UMass Lowell
AMHERST, Mass. – University of Massachusetts Athletics and its multimedia rights holder, Learfield, announced today that Jay Burnham has been named new radio play-by-play broadcaster for men’s basketball. His first call will be on Tuesday, Nov. 6, when the Minutemen host UMass Lowell at 7 p.m.
Burnham assumes the Minutemen broadcast duties held for the past decade by Josh Maurer, who will fill the same role for Boston College hoops this season while continuing to serve as lead broadcaster for UMass football the remainder of the regular season.
Massachusetts-native Burnham will handle play-by-play for all Minutemen basketball games. He also will host the weekly radio UMass Insider Show on Mondays from 7-8 p.m. and host the bi-weekly television show, UMass Sports Insider. Burnham joins the UMass Sports Network with more than 15 years of radio and television play-by-play experience. Most recently, he served five years as television play-by-play broadcaster for VCU men’s and women’s basketball and lead play-by-play broadcaster and television host for the Double-A San Francisco Giants affiliate, the Richmond Flying Squirrels.
Burnham has also been calling Virginia Tech basketball on the ACC Network Extra, as well as home football games for The College of William & Mary and Longwood University men’s basketball. His previous experience also includes handling play-by-play for Dartmouth men’s basketball on the Ivy League Digital Network. Burnham, a communications graduate of Elon University in Elon, N.C., is a native of Western Massachusetts who was born and raised in Shelburne Falls. He grew up attending UMass games in the Cage and the Mullins Center.
Maurer joined UMass in July 2008 and has also served as the voice of the Pawtucket Red Sox since 2014. In his time at UMass, Maurer played a pivotal role in the transformation of the Department of Athletics’ Creative Services division in radio, television and digital assets. He produced and directed the documentary “100 Years Of UMass Basketball”, enhanced the value of the television show and was an integral part in UMass’ development of its live and on-demand digital development.
“Jay is incredibly talented and we believe he’s the right fit for our broadcast team at UMass, said Tom Boman, vice president, broadcast operations for Learfield. “Our comprehensive search led us to Jay, who is an extremely versatile and reputable broadcaster. We are excited to welcome him to UMass and he will work closely with Andrew Stuebner, who leads the local UMass Sports Properties team for Learfield.”
“We are excited about having Jay join us as our lead broadcaster for men’s basketball,” said John Sinnett, Assistant Athletics Director for Communications. “Jay is a terrific person who knows UMass, knows the Atlantic 10, and knows the New England sport landscape. We think our fans will truly enjoy his insight during broadcasts and what he brings to our overall production of radio, television and digital services. We all sincerely appreciate the dedication Josh Maurer gave the University in his time here, recognize the sizeable contributions he made in elevating our media assets, and are excited for him as he starts a new professional chapter in his life.”
About UMass Athletics
The University of Massachusetts sponsors 21 men’s and women’s varsity athletic programs with over 650 student-athletes from all over the United States and internationally. The bulk of the athletic department competes in the Atlantic 10 Conference which is one of the premiere basketball leagues in the NCAA. Additionally, football plays as an independent program, while men’s lacrosse is a member of the Colonial Athletic Association and men’s ice hockey is a member of Hockey East which is known nationally as the top collegiate hockey league. The University of Massachusetts ranks among the top 30 of four-year colleges and universities according to U.S. News and World Report’s annual college guide as one of the nation’s top institutions. UMass is the flagship public education campus in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts making a profound, transformative impact to the common good. Founded in 1863, we are the largest public research university in New England, distinguished by the excellence and breadth of our academic, research, and community outreach programs.
About Learfield
UMass is one of nearly 130 collegiate institutions, conferences and arenas represented by Learfield, and UMass Sports Properties is the company’s Amherst-based team supporting the Minutemen. Learfield’s rich history includes over four decades of developing trusted, long-term relationships within the collegiate sports landscape. Additionally, it titles the Learfield Directors’ Cup and offers its collegiate partners access to professional concessions and ticket sales; branding, licensing and trademark consulting; digital and social platform expertise; campus wide business and sponsorship development; and venue and technology systems through its affiliated companies.