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8 CAVALIER CORNER cavalier sports T he Virginia Sports Radio Network will feature some familiar voices as a pair of the program's former standouts in Ahmad Hawkins and Matt Schaub will join play-by- play announcer and "Voice of the Cavaliers" John Freeman in the booth for the 2024 sea- son. The trio of Virginia graduates will provide an authentic voice to Cavalier fans tuning in. "Our broadcast crew is 100 percent UVA," Freeman said. "Ahmad and Matt are UVA grads. I'm a UVA grad. Our sideline reporter is a UVA grad. Our audio engineer is a UVA grad. Our studio host is too. Our radio team loves Virginia, and on game day we're a lot like all the Wahoos who are outside the sta- dium tailgating. We eat together, we laugh together, we talk about the game and we're all in agreement that there's nowhere else in the world we would rather be." Born in Charlottesville and raised in Crozet, John Freeman was named "The Voice of the Cavaliers" in November 2021 after most recently serving as the play-by- play broadcaster for Nashville SC in Major League Soccer. Freeman spent five years on the call for Nashville SC in Tennessee. In ad- dition to calling professional soccer, he was the play-by-play voice of Tennessee State basketball for two years, along with calling a variety of sports for Lipscomb University. Before moving to Tennessee, Freeman provided play-by-play for the University of Virginia, VCU and Randolph Macon College. He spent seven years as the play-by-play voice of Virginia lacrosse and also called UVA women's basketball and soccer. Hawkins will take over as the lead color analyst for all UVA football broadcasts, be- coming just the third person to handle the primary radio color analyst role in the past 41 seasons. A native of Hampton, Va., Hawkins let- tered at Virginia from 1997-2000. He played wide receiver for three seasons at UVA before moving to cornerback as a fourth-year. He is best remembered for his 47-yard touchdown catch to cap a 36-32 Cavalier comeback victory at Virginia Tech in 1998. He played for the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL and for 10 seasons in the Arena Football League. He returned to UVA to complete his undergraduate degree in reli- gious studies in 2009. Schaub will join the broadcast crew to form a three-man booth as a guest analyst for at least four games each season. Now residing in Atlanta, Schaub lettered at Virginia from 2000-04. He played in 40 games as a Cavalier and set 22 offensive records. In 2002 he was named the ACC's Player of the Year. Schaub enjoyed a 17-year career in the NFL, playing for the Atlanta Fal- cons, Houston Texans, Oakland Raiders and Baltimore Ravens. He threw for more than 25,000 yards during his professional career and led the NFL in passing (4,770 yards) in 2009. Schaub was a Pro Bowl selection that season and again in 2012. — Quinn Hull behind the scenes New Football Radio Team From left to right, Jay James, John Freeman, Ahmad Hawkins and Matt Schaub are all UVA graduates. (Photo courtesy UVA)