Berry College Athletics’ dynamic duo, Adekale Ande and Bryce Koon, found parallel paths after graduating in 2019.
Adekale accepted an offer to work as an athletic communications graduate assistant at Lenoir-Rhyne University. He is also pursuing a Master of Arts degree in University Leadership. He feels at home in his new position thanks to his work and involvement at Berry.
Adekale was part of the Men’s Ultimate Frisbee team, which won the DIII Southeast Regionals and progressed to nationals. He was part of Colleges Against Cancer and the Black Student Association. Adekale also worked in the Campus Scheduling Office and in the athletics department as a sports information assistant.
Like Adekale, Bryce is now working as an athletic communications graduate assistant, but at Valdosta State University, where he is pursuing his MBA. At Berry, Bryce was part of the WinShape College program and worked as a sports information assistant. He also hosted a sports talk show called “Timeout ft. Bryce Koon” on Viking Fusion, Berry’s student-run multimedia platform.
Bryce and Adekale worked together in the sports information department and as communication majors, the two often had classes together.
“This helped create one of the most fun and electric atmospheres at work,” says Adekale.
They worked together on play-by-play broadcasts for Berry Athletics livestreams, and helped start the first Berry Football pregame show on Facebook Live. Together, they called more than 100 Berry games over their four years, including the first Berry Football playoff game and the 2018 NCAA Division III volleyball regional tournament.
Adekale recalled this tournament fondly. “During one of the games, I went to take a break and was talking off to the side with someone, and a parent from a visiting school heard my voice and stopped me. He said that I had been calling a great game, and he thanked me for all the kinds words said about their team and their school,” he said.
“Over the course of that weekend, other parents from other schools came and thanked the broadcast table for our work,” Adekale said. “I was very surprised by this because I was just doing my job and having fun while doing it, but it meant the world to these parents. This is when I knew that Berry had not only prepared me to be successful as a broadcaster, but also as an overall human being.”
Bryce experienced similar growth through his work at Berry.
“I am thankful for people like Blake Childers who gave me the chance to discover my passion and taught me how to lead people in a workplace,” he added. “Berry made a lasting impact on me. The opportunities that I had, not only allowed me to grow as a young professional, but as a person too.”
junior Shannon Rainey
