Bowling Green, Ky. - Thursday was a big night for a Hilltopper basketball player.... and for the Western Kentucky University broadcast students that helped put him on the air.

WKU men's basketball player Elgrace Wilborn finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds and eight blocks in the Hilltoppers' Sun Belt Conference victory over New Orleans.

His performance was so good, in fact, that ESPN's SportsCenter featured three of Wilborn's plays as Number 1 in the ESPN "Top Ten Plays of the Day." But his athletic dunks would never have made it on the air without the help of the WKYU-PBS student production staff that televised the game for the Hilltopper Sports Satellite Network (HSSN).

This was not the first time that WKYU-PBS students' work has been featured on SportsCenter. In March of 2002, SportsCenter joined an HSSN production live from New Orleans as the Hilltoppers advanced during the Sun Belt Conference tournament due to a last-second shot by Patrick Sparks.

However, this was the first time that the production has ever reached the "ESPN Top Ten."

"We are extremely fortunate to have such a talented student production staff," says WKYU-PBS Producer David Brinkley. "Our students are proud of their school and it shows in their work. We couldn't do it without them."

WKYU-PBS in Bowling Green expanded its reach when the HSSN was launched in 2000. Since then games have been featured on Comcast Sports Southeast and ESPN Full Court along with other regional affiliate stations in Louisville and Hopkinsville.

"Our students' work looks just as good, or better, than any professional work you see on television. Fans who watch our games get the same experience they would get watching any professional broadcast sports event,” says WKYU-PBS Station Manager Linda Gerofsky. "We're really proud of our student crew."

Jonathan Klingenfus of Shelbyville runs the "high wide" camera during televised HSSN games from Diddle Arena.

"When I first saw the tape of my camera shots on ESPN, I tried to appear professional in front of my boss, but I couldn't stop grinning," he said. "I called my mom and dad right away to tell them about it and told them to watch. I was just so excited."

Klingenfus graduated from WKU a few weeks ago with a major in broadcasting. "It means a lot," he said. "It's always exciting to see your work on TV and have it seen by other people. It takes the efforts of a whole group of students, all pulling together, to get a game on TV and we all work so hard. But to have our work seen on a national scale like this is really, really exciting and it brings some recognition to our students and to WKYU.

"This is definitely going on my resume reel."

More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you'd like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.

For more information, contact David Brinkley (270-792-2361) or Linda Gerofsky (270-745-3833)