background/summary
Drae Smith, a Youngstown State graduate, joined the YSU athletic department on a full-time basis as Assistant Director of Athletics Communications and Event Management in August 2019. He previously worked in the department as a graduate assistant in the Athletics Communications office.
Smith coordinates the media and social media publicity for the men's and women's golf programs and the baseball team. He has helped handle radio and television play-by-play duties for the YSU women's basketball program for the past eight years. In addition, he worked as a sideline reporter and color analyst for both radio and television broadcasts of YSU football from 2015 to 2018.
Smith assumed the play-by-play duties for YSU football home games on ESPN+ in 2019. He also became the full-time radio play-by-play announcer for YSU women's basketball in 2019-20. Smith has served as a host for YSU's weekly coaches radio show "Penguin Playbook" for the past six years. He also added the duties of event manager for YSU home volleyball matches in 2022.
A native of East Palestine, Ohio, he is a veteran broadcaster who has experience in sports marketing. He spent two years as a show host and producer for Rookery Radio, YSU's official student internet radio station. He has served as a key part of the Penguins Radio Network for the past eight years.
Smith earned a bachelor's degree in marketing and business administration from YSU graduating magna cum laude in May 2014. He was a member of the academic honor society Beta Gamma Sigma, and received the Williamson College of Business Administration's Senior Leadership Award.
He graduated with his master's degree in professional communication from Youngstown State in May 2019. Smith earned Academic Achievement and Professional Excellence awards within YSU's Professional Communication MA program.
He previously gained marketing and sales experience working as Director of Operations and Customer Service at Golf Headquarters (GolfHQ.com) in nearby Boardman.
Experience
youngstown state university, assistant director of athletics communications/event management
August 2019 - Present
Primary media/communications contact for baseball, men’s golf and women’s golf programs
Handle day-to-day sport responsibilities: website releases/management, media relations, social media, event management, statistical management and game notes/media guides
Extensive experience managing team social media accounts - Twitter, Facebook, Instagram
Extensive experience with Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, After Effects, Premiere, Bridge
Shoot, edit and produce videos for the department’s YouTube page and social media accounts
Extensive experience with StatCrew software, recordkeeping, videography and photography at live sporting events
Serve as event manager at home volleyball matches - oversee music, video board, in-match promotions
Manage the internal text-alert system for YSU Athletics
Helped to recruit, manage and oversee a team of 10-15 student interns
Previously served as the facilities manager for home YSU soccer games
youngstown state university, radio/tv broadcaster
August 2015 - Present
Full-time Radio Play-By-Play Announcer for Youngstown State Women's Basketball games on 570 WKBN, 1390 WNIO & iHeartRadio since 2019-20
Television Play-By-Play Announcer for Youngstown State Football home games on ESPN+ since 2019
Host of "Penguin Playbook" radio show on 1390 WNIO & iHeartRadio since 2017-18
Previous:
Color Analyst for YSU Football home games on ESPN+ (2018)
Sideline Reporter for radio broadcasts of YSU Football games on 570 WKBN & iHeartRadio (2015-18)
Television Play-By-Play Announcer for Youngstown State Women's Basketball home games on WatchESPN/ESPN+ & Armstrong Cable (2015-19)
youngstown state university, part-time communications faculty
August 2022 - December 2022
Part-time faculty member within the Youngstown State Communications department
Instructed an upper-level Sports Communication Message Design course during the fall 2022 semester
youngstown state university, athletics communications graduate assistant
August 2017 - May 2019
Primary media/communications contact for baseball, men’s golf and women’s golf programs
Handled day-to-day sport responsibilities: website releases, social media, event management
Experience with Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, After Effects, Premiere, Bridge
Shot, edited, and produced videos for the department’s YouTube page and social media accounts
Experience with StatCrew software, recordkeeping, and photography at live sporting events
Co-Host of “The Penguin Insiders Podcast” for YSU Athletics on SoundCloud and iTunes
golf headquarters (golfhq.com), director of operations & customer service
November 2013 - August 2017
Responsible for all order fulfillment operations, customer retention, and customer relationship management for the e-commerce site GolfHQ.com
Oversaw and managed order fulfillment process from the time orders are taken until final delivery to customers
Helped design and develop order fulfillment, customer service, and inventory management processes
Worked closely with FedEx, USPS, and UPS to manage all shipping and logistical operations
Maintained positive B2B relationships and work closely with product manufacturers
Managed and tracked all drop ship orders placed with and fulfilled by product manufacturers
Responsible for resolving customer service problems/issues, maintaining positive customer relationships, and a high customer service rating
Trained, managed, and oversaw a group of 3-5 employees involved in order fulfillment/customer service operations
Helped develop website’s “return/exchange” policy and oversee all returns and exchanges that are processed
Helped write and develop scripts for radio/television advertising and promotions
Assisted with the development and implementation of a new website design and retail management system
Extensive experience with Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System (Point of Sale, Store Operations, Inventory Management, CRM)
Assisted with inventory/product management, product listing, copywriting, content creation, and blogging
Also gained experience with:
Search engine optimization
Email marketing
Social media marketing
Pay-per-click advertising
Supply chain management
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Outlook
Adobe Photoshop
rookery radio, show host/producer
January 2014 - October 2016
Hosted and produced my own sports talk radio shows
Created content/segments, edited audio, booked guests
Handled all marketing & promotions through Twitter, Facebook, etc.
Operated sound board and SAM Broadcaster
Managed and trained other student radio hosts/DJ’s
Covered Youngstown State football as on-field reporter & beat writer
Notable Guests/Interviews:J.T. Miller - Tampa Bay Lightning Center
Derek Rivers - New England Patriots Defensive End, Former Youngstown State Defensive End
Fred McLeod - Cleveland Cavaliers TV Play-By-Play Announcer on Fox Sports Ohio
John Michael - Cleveland Cavaliers Radio Play-By-Play Announcer
Aaron Goldhammer - Co-Host of "The Really Big Show" on ESPN Cleveland, 850 WKNR
Ken Carman - Show Host on 92.3 The Fan, CBS Sports Radio, Cleveland Browns Radio Network
John Greco - Former Cleveland Browns Offensive Lineman
Mary Kay Cabot - Cleveland Browns Beat Writer for Cleveland.com & Cleveland Plain Dealer
Jerry McGee - Former Professional Golfer
David Lee Morgan Jr. - Award-winning Sportswriter & Author
Nick Camino - Show Host on WTAM 1100 in Cleveland
Emmett Golden - Show Host on ESPN Cleveland, 850 WKNR
Chris Fedor - Cleveland Cavaliers Beat Writer for Cleveland.com, Host on 92.3 The Fan
Zack Meisel - Cleveland Indians Beat Writer for The Athletic
Eric Wolford - Former Head Football Coach at Youngstown State
Shane Montgomery - Former Offensive Coordinator at Youngstown State, Former Head Coach at Miami (Ohio)
John Barnes - Head Women's Basketball Coach at Youngstown State
Jamaine Cook - Former All-American Running Back at Youngstown State
Hunter Wells - Former Youngstown State Quarterback
Trevor Parks - Youngstown State Director of Athletics Communications
Robb Schmidt - Youngstown State Men's Basketball Radio Play-by-Play Announcer, Assistant Athletic Director
Education
youngstown state university, youngstown, ohio
Bachelor of Science in Business Administration
Graduated May 2014
Major: Marketing // Minor: Entrepreneurship
youngstown state university, youngstown, ohio
Master of Arts in Professional Communications
Graduated May 2019