By Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University
“Voice of the Wildcats.” That title belongs to the legendary sportscasters who have broadcast Kansas State University football and basketball games through the years.
Wyatt Thompson is the current and longtime Voice of the Cats, which he especially appreciates because of his roots in rural Kansas. Thompson became Voice of the Wildcats in 2002. He grew up in rural Kansas near Solomon.
Among his interests was livestock judging in high school FFA, which included two elements: One, placing a class of livestock in the desired order; and two, stating oral reasons to a judge to describe the reasons for that placing.
This process required him to make quick judgments and to state his observations articulately and accurately. In a sense, those skills also serve him well as a sportscaster.
Thompson continued livestock judging at Colby Community College but found himself drawn to sports broadcasting. He made the change. In 1976, he began his career, spending time at radio stations in Great Bend and Abilene. He was recognized with the Kansas Association of Broadcasters Play-by-Play Award in 1982.
From 1985 until 1989, Thompson worked at KAYS in Hays where he was the play-by-play voice at Fort Hays State. He won the Oscar Stauffer Sportscaster of the Year Award in 1989.
Then Thompson moved to Denver. He was the play-by-play voice for Colorado State’s football and men’s basketball teams for five years. In addition to his duties at CSU, Thompson was also a sports reporter on radio and host of the Countdown to Kickoff show for the Denver Broncos.
Thompson won the Colorado Broadcasting Association award for best play-by-play announcer in 2000.
In 2002, he moved to K-State to become the Voice of the Wildcat, a position he still holds today. In doing so, he followed in the footsteps of legendary broadcasters who have previously served as Voice of the Wildcats: Dev Nelson, Mitch Holthus, Steve Physioc and Greg Sharpe.
Today, Thompson is Senior Director of Broadcasting for the K-State Athletic Department as well as Voice of the Wildcats. He serves as host of the Chris Klieman and Jerome Tang coaches’ shows on television and radio. In addition, he is heavily involved in various Catbacker Club, alumni and athletic department functions, frequently serving as a keynote speaker.
In an era of NIL – Name, Image, Likeness — and the transfer portal, it seems remarkable that he is observing local players from Kansas making an impact for their home state team. For example, in football, he sees Sam Hecht from Shawnee snap the ball to Avery Johnson, who went to Maize, who then might hand off the ball to Dylan Edwards from Wichita or D.J. Giddens from Junction City – and they just might be led by a block from Hadley Panzer of Lakin.
An estimated 55 Kansans are on the K-State football roster – far more than any other state.
It is especially exciting to see such in-state talent perform well. According to the K-State athletic department, since 1990 K-State’s all-conference selections have come from 37 cities in Kansas.
“I love broadcasting K-State sports for so many reasons,” Thompson said. “At the top of the list would be the amazing coaches and players that I get to work with daily.”
He also relishes the game day experience. “You can just feel the excitement for each game, and the love this fan base has for Kansas State University and the Cats,” Thompson said.
Thompson won the Hod Humiston Award for sports broadcasting from the Kansas Association of Broadcasters in 2011. Over the course of his career, Thompson has been named the Kansas Sportscaster of the Year six times. He ranks second all-time among K-State broadcasters in awards won, and fourth all-time among broadcasters in the state of Kansas.
In 2022 he was inducted into the Kansas Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame.
It’s an impressive record for a farm kid from the rural community of Solomon, population 993 people. Now, that’s rural.
Voice of the Wildcats. We commend Wyatt Thompson for making a difference by sharing the excitement of Power 4 football and basketball with fans across Kansas and beyond. We’re always thankful to hear his voice.
Audio and text files of Kansas Profiles are available at https://www.huckboydinstitute.org/kansas-profiles. For more information about the Huck Boyd Institute, interested persons can visit http://www.huckboydinstitute.org.
