Former Golden Eagle P.J. Mays returns to call the action

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- P.J. Mays, who hosts a sports/talk radio program in Atlanta, returned to his alma mater Monday night to call the action for the Tennessee Tech's women's basketball game against Florida International, the first of several planned guest spots by the former Golden Eagle guard.

Mays called the play-by-play on the Golden Eagle Sports Network, after spending several minutes doing as a guest on the live webstream on the OVC Digital Network with Dylan Vazzano.

"I had a great time," Mays said afterward. "It was an exciting game, the fans were really into it, and Tennessee Tech played hard. What more can you ask. It was a really fun opportunity."

A native of Cincinnati, Mays was a communications major with an emphasis on broadcasting, and graduated in 1993. He was recruited out of Purcell-Marian High School by Missouri, after being named all-state and honorable mention All-America. A knee injury slowed him in his senior season, and he left Missouri after one semester, moving to Anderson (S.C.) Junior College, where he was teamates with a post player named Charles Edmondon.

A year later, both Mays and Edmonson were on the Golden Eagle roster and playing for coach Frank Harrell. The knee injury plagued him, however, and he sat out the season after undergoing surgery. In the meantime, he worked for the school newspaper, The Oracle, where his beat was...the men's basketball team.

In 1991-92, he played in 25 games and averaged 3.4 points and 1.7 rebounds as a backup point guard. The injury put an early end to his playing career, but he has remained immersed in sports ever since. Beginning with a company in his hometown, Mays has worked in sports hosting, a line of work that took him to Atlanta. He currently co-hosts a talk show on AM 1100 in Atlanta.

Plans call for Mays to return to Tech to add his insight to men's and women's games once the Ohio Valley Conference schedule gets underway.

"I'm looking forward to it," Mays said. "I saw several people I remember from when I was on the team, and I look forward to getting back and seeing a lot more, including some of the guys I played with. We had a really tight group, and I've been in touch with some of them through the years, but I'd love to see more of them and spend some time with them."