(Source Daytona Times):
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Bethune-Cookman Wildcats have been named the 2023-24 SWAC Sports Information Staff of the Year. The award was voted upon the league’s sports information directors.
Bethune-Cookman’s Athletic Communications staff saw tremendous growth in the 2023-24 calendar year under the direction of Director Bryce Hoynoski. The B-CU staff initiated and completed a total remodel of BCUAthletics.com, featuring a modernized look and shift toward prioritizing more modern elements of the college athletics landscape, including social media, NIL support through INFLCR, and video content.
The Wildcats and Director of CatEye Network Eugene Robinson worked to increase the footprint of Bethune-Cookman’s CatEye Network, a student-focused platform intended to recruit, train, and prepare students in the college athletics creative space.
This year’s success stories include Henson White, who served as color analyst for all CatEye Network home basketball contests, Sabrina Petit-Homme, who assisted B-CU’s social media staff and served as a volunteer at both the SWAC Tournament and HBCU All Star Game, as well as photographer Victoria Samedy and videographer Eli Baptiste.
A group of nearly 20 B-CU students also earned experience in broadcast production, graphic design, game operations, and in-venue production throughout the year. The Wildcats also put an increased emphasis on the production value of the B-CU YouTube channel, The CatEye Network.
Thanks to the outstanding work of play-by-play voice Michael Truilo, coupled with excellent student production and camera work, the Wildcats were able to broadcast two football games, over 20 home basketball games, 11 home volleyball games, and more than 30 baseball/softball games, as well as a B-CU Football National Signing Day Show.
The Wildcats also covered nearly 20 road contests via CatEye Network Radio, which was broadcast live on YouTube and 1380 WELE in Daytona Beach. The efforts of B-CU’s Athletic Communications staff and CatEye Network students allowed B-CU to remain one of the only SWAC schools to provide all home game broadcasts free to fans.
Social media engagement
Under director of social media Autumn Sander, the Wildcats saw significant increases in following and engagement across social media platforms X and Instagram, including nearly doubling the following of @BCU_Athletics on Instagram.
With an increased emphasis on graphic design and video production, B-CU made increased efforts to establish a digital presence including the revamp of all social media profile headers and profile photos to refresh the Wildcats brand.
Highlights of the B-CU social media calendar include the unveil of the new B-CU football on-campus practice field, the reveal of a new Bethune-Cookman Athletics bus wrap, release of new baseball and football uniforms, and National Athletic Trainers month.
Other new implementations for Bethune-Cookman Creative include “Wildcats of the Week,’’ recognizing top performances on the field, in the community, and in the classroom across B-CU Athletics, and “This Week in Wildcat Athletics,” to better inform fans of the week-to-week happenings in Wildcat Nation.
Under Sports Information Director Bryan Harvey, the Wildcats continued to provide a consistent web presence throughout the calendar year, including pregame/postgame coverage of all Bethune-Cookman Athletic events via written releases on BCUAthletics.com as well as consistently maintained rosters, schedules, and statistics for all sports.
The Wildcats also continued to maintain outstanding relationships with local and national media, including the Daytona Times.
