The Los Angeles Lakers announced that undergraduate USC Annenberg journalism students Trevor Thompson (pictured, below right) and Alex Goldsmith (below left) are the winners of the 2010 Chick Hearn Memorial Scholarship, which will be awarded on center court at halftime of the Lakers-Oklahoma City Thunder game on Nov. 22.
The annual scholarship is funded by an endowment established by the Lakers in memory of Hall of Fame sports broadcaster Chick Hearn (above left), who died in 2002. In addition to major gifts from the Lakers and Hearn’s widow, Marge Hearn, hundreds of fans have contributed to the scholarship fund at the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism.
The Lakers, Marge Hearn and Geneva Overholser, director of USC Annenberg’s School of Journalism, are scheduled to make the official presentation to Thompson and Goldsmith during Chick Hearn Night, the game closest to the date of Hearn’s birthday. In addition to a $5,000 scholarship, the students also have the opportunity to intern at Fox Sports Net and work on the network’s Lakers telecasts as part of 
“Of all the honors that Chick received, I believe he would have been most proud of this scholarship,” Marge Hearn said. “He never was able to complete his own education and he would have been very pleased that students like Trevor and Alex have the help they need to pursue their dreams.”
Thompson, a junior from Valencia, Calif., and Goldsmith, a senior from Santa Fe, N.M., have had a passion for sports broadcasting for years.
Thompson has been sports anchor at USC’s Annenberg TV News (ATVN) for two semesters, where he has also been the news anchor and sports reporter, and has written, shot, and produced day-of-air sports packages. He has hosted sports programs on USC’s KSCR Radio, and is an intern at KCAL/KCBS in Los Angeles, where he assists reporters and Web editors with the production of sports stories. He has also interned at WTVF News in Nashville. “Since I’m not playing competitive sports every day anymore, commenting and reporting on sports is the way I still feel like I’m in touch and have a connection,” he said.
Goldsmith got his sports broadcasting start in 2004, when he was a 15-year-old host of a public radio show and part-time ticket taker for the Santa Fe Roadrunners hockey team. When the team’s public address announcer didn’t show up for a game, he was tapped on the shoulder while taking tickets and picked to be the replacement. He is the sports director of ATVN, where he has also been on air as a sports anchor and reporter. He is the head of team media, lead broadcaster and official team blogger for the USC ice hockey team, and has been play-by-play broadcaster, color commentator and reporter for USC football, baseball and women’s soccer on KSCR.
“I haven’t been content to just sit on the sidelines and observe when it comes to sports,” he said. “I’m now in the middle of my fifth season as a hockey play-by-play announcer and still relatively early into my two-semester term as sports director at Annenberg TV News. The more involved I get, the more my love for sports journalism has grown.”
The two student journalists’ paths cross often on campus, and Goldsmith was the first person Thompson ever met at USC. While visiting the university as a high school senior, Goldsmith hosted Thompson. Now the two will unite again, with their families and Overholser at their side.
“To be associated with Chick Hearn in any way is unbelievable,” Goldsmith said. “I don’t think there’s been an announcer who has done as much for their sport as Chick Hearn. His passion lifted the sport of basketball.”
The Chick Hearn Memorial Scholarship was established in 2002 at the request of the Hearn family and the Lakers in tribute to the legendary announcer. In addition to his more than 40 years with the Lakers, Hearn spent 1956-61 as the announcer for USC Trojan football and basketball games. In 1959, he was inducted into USC’s Skull and Dagger Society as the “Voice of Troy.” To continue the legacy of Hearn, this scholarship provides talented broadcast journalism students at USC Annenberg’s School of Journalism with the opportunity to further develop their own unique voices.
The public may continue to contribute to the fund to help deserving journalism students seeking careers in sports broadcasting. Donations may be sent to USC Annenberg Chick Hearn Fund, USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, 3502 Watt Way, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0281.
