Citizen Koehn

Best Seat in the House column by Chris Graham
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I didn’t realize it until after we talked this morning, but I’ve probably already met – at the least bumped in to – the new Voice of the Cavaliers, Dave Koehn.

Koehn was in Charlottesville for UVa.’s basketball season opener with Vermont, a 90-72 win for the Cavs.

The 32-year-old broadcaster admitted that he let his mind wander to the possibility of being able to call games in the ACC one day while sitting at courtside.

“I remember at the time thinking to myself, What an incredible job this would be to have. I mean, to work in a place like this on a daily basis, it’s like a dream. To have that actually transpire within the year is beyond words,” Koehn told me this morning.

Koehn is still in Vermont wrapping up a few loose ends before heading down to Central Virginia to take over the duty of being the Voice of the Cavaliers on July 7. That gives him about, oh, seven weeks or so to get ready to call the Southern Cal game in late August.

It’s only the biggest game in Virginia football history. No pressure there to get it exactly right. Without a layup against, say, Richmond, to get the juices flowing.

“The next couple of months getting ready for Aug. 30th I think are going to be full of studying or preparation,” Koehn said. “Any good broadcaster will tell you that most of this job is done before you go on the air. This is a job where your job is to get as much information and be ready to deliver that information in an appropriate time within the context of the story.”

A self-styled “beast of preparation,” Koehn is planning on marathon sessions of “locking myself in a room reading everything there is to read about Virginia and the ACC” when he can work them into what promises to be a busy schedule of public appearances and meet-and-greets.

“It’s going to be a lot of hard work and preparation, but it’s going to be the work that you like to do. It’s fun stuff. I’m looking forward to it,” Koehn said.