University of Tennessee Athletics
Huster Broadcast Center Dedicated
September 18, 2004 | General
Sept. 18, 2004
In the cavalcade of "names" dotting the history of University of Tennessee athletic broadcasting, the name of Edwin Huster now joins those of Lindsey Nelson, Allyn Stout, George Mooney, John Ward and Bill Anderson and present-day "Voice of the Vols" Bob Kesling as those who have had great influence on the development of broadcast journalism at the university.
That was evident when the University dedicated the Edwin C. Huster, Jr. Broadcast Center in the Communications Building the afternoon of Sept. 17.
"From this point on," Kesling said, "Vol Network programming will end with 'A production of the Vol Network from the Edwin C. Huster, Jr. Broadcast Center.'"
With wife, Julia, and daughter Courtney and husband J.T. Thompson looking on, Huster was remembered fondly as a giant in the collegiate broadcasting business.
"Edwin loved the University of Tennessee," Hamilton said, "and always represented the program the right way. I cherish the time I spent with him. He was a man of great personal integrity.
Huster's successor, Steve Early, paid tribute to Huster as "someone who was a friend, father figure and valuable mentor, the class and backbone of the company."
Praising him as a leader, Early said "you always knew he was in charge. He was not afraid of anybody, any situation."
The name Huster had been synonymous with broadcasts of Tennessee athletic events, to the extent that, when the Vol Network's UNLV broadcast began Sept. 5, it was the first time since the late 1940s, when Huster's father, Edwin, Sr., first began the fledgling network, that there was not a Huster in the Vol Network booth.
There was one other tribute to Huster that concluded the program. It was announced that the Edwin C. Huster, Jr. Scholarship Endowment, funded by his family and friends, was in place beginning this year. Headed up by Jimmy Haslam and Steve Bailey, the endowment is in excess of $118,000.
The 2004-05 season is dedicated in Huster's honor and memory.
