Wyatt Thompson, most recently a member of the broadcast team for Colorado State University athletics, has been named the "Voice of the Wildcats" for the K-State Sports Network, it was announced Friday.

Thompson will join former Wildcat quarterback Stan Weber on the football broadcasts this fall. He will also serve as the host of the Bill Snyder Show on television and will join Coach Snyder on weekly Cat Chat call-in shows on the radio network.

Thompson will be a full-time employee of the athletic department and will also serve as the play-by-play voice on Wildcat men’s basketball. He will be involved in various Catbacker Club, alumni and athletic-department functions in his new role.

"I’m thrilled, it’s an opportunity for me to come home," said Thompson, who noted that he grew up a Wildcat fan. "To work again for (K-State athletics director) Tim Weiser, someone I respect and admire a great deal, and the opportunity for me to work in the Big 12 are wonderful. To work at a school like K-State is a tremendous opportunity."

"I’m personally very pleased that Wyatt will join us on the network," said Weiser. "He did a wonderful and very professional job at Colorado State, and our fans enjoyed his broadcasts. He will be another in a long line of outstanding broadcasters who have done great work at Kansas State."

"I am pleased that Wyatt will be doing our games along with Stan Weber," said Wildcat head football coach Bill Snyder. "He is a tremendous person and a loyal Kansan who comes highly recommended by many in the profession who I greatly respect.

"I am confident he and Stan will make a great Kansas State team," added Snyder. "Both possess a greatly admired professionalism which is greatly appreciated. Wyatt fits in very well with the succession of tremendous broadcasters we have had through my tenure at Kansas State."

"When I heard his tape, I thought it was the best play-by-play I’d heard in years by any individual," said Larry

Steckline, the owner of the K-State Sports Network. "The quality of his voice, his knowledge of the game and the excitement he put into it was exactly what our network has been looking for.

"We’re excited also that he’s a Kansas native and has roots here, that’s important to me," said Steckline. "It’s also important that he comes with high recommendations from Colorado State as not only a great play-by-play man but a great person."

Thompson started his broadcasting career in 1976 as a sportscaster for various high schools, colleges and universities in Kansas, spending time at stations in Great Bend and Abilene. He worked for KAYS radio and television in Hays, Kan., from 1985 until 1989, where he was the play-by-play voice at Fort Hays State. While in Kansas, he was recognized with the Kansas Association of Broadcasters Play-by-Play Award in 1982 and the Oscar Stauffer Sportscaster of the Year Award in 1989.

He then moved to Fort Collins, Colo., where he joined the broadcast team for Colorado State. He has done Rams football as the play-by-play man for the past five seasons and won the Colorado Broadcasting Association for best play-by-play in 2000.

Coming to Kansas State with more than 25 years of play-by-play experience, Thompson has also been a sports reporter for Clear Channel Denver, the Countdown to Kickoff host for the Denver Broncos on KOA Radio and hosts the Zone Sports Insiders show on 760 The Zone in Denver.

"This is a great opportunity for Wyatt to go back home, but it’s a huge loss for us at this end," said Don Martin, program director at KOA and at 760 The Zone. "He’s become an icon at CSU and an important person in sports in the Denver area. You guys have definitely won big on this one. You’ve got yourselves one of the nation’s best play-by-play guys, and it’s a great plus for the state of Kansas. That’s not just because he’s a great play-by-play broadcaster, but he’s also a great person."

Weber will be the analyst for Wildcat football for the 16th season. Originally from Goddard, Kan., Weber earned Academic All-America honors in 1984 from the College Sports Information Directors of America. He won three letters while playing football for Kansas State from 1980 through 1984.

Thompson is expected to begin his duties with Kansas State around July 1.

Kansas State opens its 2002 football season on Aug. 31 at home against Western Kentucky.