PRINCESS ANNE, Md. — University of Maryland Eastern Shore head men's basketball coach Jason Crafton and head women's basketball coach Fred Batchelor will be a part of a new podcast hosted by Keith Raad, the new voice of the Hawks, in partnership with Linacre Media.
The podcast named "Honing Your Craft" is available on the Maryland Eastern Shore Athletics official Facebook page at Eastern Shore Hawks and at easternshorehawks.com. The show will feature guests from around the country including basketball coach Kyle Neptune of Villanova and journalist Jeff Goodman of Stadium among others.
"We are excited to team up with Linacre to feature our men's & women's basketball programs during this break in action," Crafton said. "We wanted the chance to keep our fans, supporters and alums actively engaged; also I'm looking forward to the guest segments with friends in the business where we discuss an array of topics in the hoops world."
"It's important for our programs to remain relevant during this time that we are not competing," Batchelor said. "Any chance to highlight our exceptional student-athletes and advance our program's visibility are special and unique opportunities."
The new podcast will also be the first appearance of Raad since joining the Hawk family. Raad is a play-by-play broadcaster located in New York City. He has been behind the mic for football, basketball, baseball, soccer, volleyball, hockey, and college wrestling.
Raad has been the voice of the Brooklyn Cyclones, the Advanced-A minor league affiliate of the New York Mets since 2018 and made prior stops with the Frisco RoughRiders, Long Island Ducks, and Dayton Dragons. He also handles play-by-play for football, basketball, and baseball at Wagner College on Staten Island. He will host this new venture that will bring light to the Hawks basketball programs while the squads are not playing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Though the court is quiet this year for the Hawks, the basketball family is alive and well," Raad said. "I can't wait to meet and talk to the different personalities and characters that Coach Crafton and Coach Batchelor have surrounded themselves with."
While the show will feature basketball as a backdrop, the coaches and their guests will tackle other topics. Whether it's the pandemic or the fight for social justice, all topics are on the table for "Honing Your Craft."
Linacre Media is a 360-Degree Production Services and Public Relations/Social/Digital Media consulting company based in New York City. Their partnership with The Shore began during the 2019-20 basketball season as Linacre produced the Hawks games and they were streamed live to Facebook.
"During these challenging times, it's important that leaders like Coach Crafton and Coach Batchelor continue to have a platform," said Mark Fratto of Linacre Media. "On this podcast we're going to talk hoops for sure, but we'll also take on the challenges of the pandemic and discuss social justice as we'll hear from national basketball personalities, current and former players and a cornucopia of guests from varying backgrounds. It'll be a different experience every time you tune in."