Broadcaster Josh Lewin will become the new play-by-play announcer for both UCLA football and men’s basketball. Lewin will be entering his 12th season as the voice of the Chargers this fall and is currently in his fifth season handling play-by-play duties for the Mets on the radio. Lewin takes over for Bill Roth, who was named to the position in April '15 after spending the previous 27 seasons as the lead play-by-play broadcaster for Virginia Tech’s football and men’s basketball teams. Roth stepped down from his position at UCLA last month (UCLA). In L.A., Tom Hoffarth notes Lewin was "on UCLA's short list of candidates." After this past UCLA basketball season ended, Roth "went back East to wrestle with his options." Colleagues at UCLA had "sensed he was homesick and struggling to adjust to the Westwood experience but he did not want to make any rash decisions." When Roth "finally told the Bruins administration of his desire to leave, Lewin had already been up to speed with what was happening, talking to UCLA officials when he was in L.A. with the Mets during a four-game series at Dodger Stadium on May 9-12." The logistics for how Lewin will "juggle the three team assignments is already on his radar." As the schedules work, Lewin said that he knows he will "fly from New York to San Diego to do a Chargers’ exhibition game on Thursday, Sept. 1, fly back to New York to do a Mets-Nationals game on Friday, Sept. 2, fly to Houston that night to get to UCLA’s football opener at Texas A&M on Saturday, Sept. 3, then return to New York for the Mets’ Sept. 4 Sunday game" (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 6/3).
COAST-TO-COAST: In Virginia, David Teel notes Roth will "remain on the air and with IMG College, developing new, nationally oriented programming" from the company’s HQ in Winston-Salem. Roth said of UCLA, "I’m disappointed it didn’t work out, but I’m excited to be coming back home." He added, "Professionally it was amazing. Personally, L.A. wasn’t the lifestyle for me." Teel notes Roth has "spent much of the spring in Blacksburg, Winston-Salem and Florida," and he has been "happier than at any time since accepting the UCLA position." The career change is a "measure of how much IMG, which recruited him to UCLA, values Roth that it’s essentially creating a position for him" (Hampton Roads DAILY PRESS, 6/3).
