Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 13 No. 6 | June 2021

inside.hokiesports.com 25 How does someone develop into the top collegiate sports broadcaster? For Evan Hughes, it was a journey that began as a 12-year-old when he volunteered as the public address announcer for his sister’s all-star softball games. There’s one moment that still sticks out in memory for Hughes along the way. He was calling play-by-play football on Patriot Talk Live, the network home he created for all sports radio broadcasts of the high school he attended, Patrick Henry High School in Ashland, Virginia. In the tense final moments of the 2014 Tomato Bowl, the epic rivalry between Patrick Henry and Lee-Davis High School (now Mechanicsville High School), the Patriots sealed the win with an interception in the end zone. On the call, Hughes spontaneously bellowed “Holy Toledo!” “It was sheer joy that I got to call this awesome moment,” Hughes said. “I just knew at that point. Not that I knew I was good enough to pursue play-by-play broadcasting, but I knew I loved it. I said this is more than just a hobby. I look back on that being the first big moment I got to call, and I remember thinking this is something I really want to do.” “Holy Toledo!” has become synonymous with Hughes calling games over the past four years at Virginia Tech. Now, another phrase can forever be linked to him: 2021 Jim Nantz Award winner. On May 28, Hughes learned that the Sportscasters Talent Agency of America had chosen him as the 2021 Jim Nantz Award winner, which by Cory Van Dyke Evan Hughes honored with 2021 Jim Nantz Award Continued on page 26