Sportscaster Joe Smith to celebrate 40th and final season in 2022
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (WISH) – Legendary radio sportscaster Joe Smith has announced that the 2022 football season will be his 40th and final season of his career with Indiana Athletics.
Since 1983, Smith has been the voice of IU football and basketball games, handling pregame, halftime, and postgame analysis next to the Voice of the Hoosiers, Don Fischer. Fischer is approaching his 50th year on the IU Radio Network, which factored into Smith’s decision to stay for one more year.
“I would not miss Don’s 50th season for anything in the world,” Smith said. “Nothing has made me happier than being a part of Indiana football and men’s basketball broadcasts with the best play-by-play man in the country. Don is a true friend and to share the booth with him one final year, well, it doesn’t get any better than that.”
Fischer has nothing but praise for Smith’s contributions over the years.
“Joe Smith has been an integral and versatile member of the IU Radio Network broadcast team for the better part of 40 years,” Fischer said. “At one time or another, Joe has served as the broadcast engineer, football spotter, statistician, and our pre-game, halftime, and post-game host through those four decades. His ability to step in and do whatever has been asked has made him invaluable to me and our staff.”
These contributions have not gone unnoticed, either. Smith was named Indiana Sportscaster of the Year in 1998; in April 2003, he was inducted into the Indiana Sportswriters/Sportscasters Hall of Fame; and in August 2021, he was inducted into the Monroe County Sports Hall of Fame.
Smith also received the J.W. Bill Orwig Medal that goes to non-alumni for distinguished service to Indiana University back in June 2004. Then in March 2020, Smith was also given the IU Bicentennial Medal by President Michael A. McRobbie, awarded to organizations and individuals who have “broadened the reach of Indiana University around the state, nation, and world” through their personal, professional, artistic or philanthropic efforts.
Throughout his final season, Smith will assist John Herrick, a news anchor at 93.1 WIBC and Network Indiana in Indianapolis, in the move to his former role.