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Roy Pickerill (Kentucky Wesleyan College), Lifetime Achievement Award
by Rick Meyers, Senior Consultant at Chanticleer Consulting, Cincinnati, Ohio
Pickerill with his signed memorabilia and five NCAA
Championship rings.
Those lucky enough to be a part of sports information know of the tremendous career satisfaction and camaraderie associated with the profession.
Those who have been fortunate enough to survive and thrive through the years take on an even greater appreciation. Not only does it become a part of your persona, it becomes who you are.
Meet Roy Pickerill.
Roy is the epitome of the best of the best in this profession. He is revered by his colleagues and loved by his friends. As a recipient of a 2017 CoSIDA Lifetime Achievement Award, the man they call “Pick” is as humble as he is honored.
And, like many SIDs, it all began at a very young age.
Pick, in fact, first thought about being a sports information director in the fifth grade.
“The teacher assigned us to write a paper about sports where you used a ball,” he says. “I now consider that my first sports information project. It all started there.”
That moment was the springboard for an iconic multiple Hall of Fame career that has propelled Pickerill to the top of his profession. The Louisville, Ky., native, who just wanted to be involved in sports as a teenager “in some way,” found and honed his niche as a student manager at Louisville Western High School.
He then parlayed that into a 40-year love affair with Kentucky Wesleyan College and his adopted hometown of Owensboro, Ky.
“When I visited Kentucky Wesleyan I knew that’s where I wanted to go to college,” he says. “The school was right, the town was right. It was the perfect place for all I wanted.”
Pick decided to major in physical education and hooked on with the KWC basketball team as a manager. In those early years, he did whatever the coaches asked, from doing laundry to keeping the book. It was during his junior year, however, when it all clicked.
“Joel Utley was doing radio for the team and he asked me to help him update some records,” says Pick. “I started helping with that and knew this is what I want to do.”
Utley, a Hall of Fame career broadcaster who has called KWC games more than 55 years, remembers Pickerill as a youngster with an intense passion.
“His love and dedication as a student to Kentucky Wesleyan was something to behold,” says Utley, who began broadcasting KWC games in 1960-61. “He was always looking for something to do, something to help with. You gave him a job and he always exceeded expectations.”
Roy decided as a senior he was all in at KWC. He had met his future bride, Margaret, as a student and they were thinking marriage right after graduation.
“She was from Pittsburgh and a huge Steelers fan,” laughs Roy. “I sure did not realize what she was she getting into.”
Roy and Margaret graduated in 1975 and decided to stay in Owensboro. Margaret landed a job as a kindergarten teacher and Roy was asked to stay on with the basketball team as trainer/manager/assistant SID. He stayed in that role until 1988, when he was finally hired as KWC’s first full-time SID.
The rest is history.
“I’ve been around this game a long time,” said Utley. “I may be a bit biased, but I cannot imagine a more dedicated person to the sports information profession. It is wonderful to see him recognized for his amazing career.”
Roy announced his retirement as KWC’s SID last year, but continues his love affair with his alma mater in another key role. He was named Special Assistant for College Relations, acting as an ambassador for Panther Nation. In his new role, he will engage thousands of Kentucky Wesleyan alumni, keeping them connected in ways no one else could.
“I have been so blessed to be able to live my dream job for my entire career,” Pickerill says.
That new role will not keep him away from his first love—following his Panthers and continuing his on-going role as media coordinator of the NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Championship Elite Eight, a position he has held for 24 years.
“My family will always be my sports information friends from around the country,” he says. “Everyone in this profession is a close-knit family; they are all my brothers and sisters.”
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