Ohio State Play-By-Play Announcer Paul Keels To Be Inducted Into Ohio Basketball Hall Of Fame

The Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame Announced its 2026 class of inductees, and Ohio State play-by-play announcer Paul Keels is set to be inducted into the hall.

Keels has been on the broadcast for Ohio State men’s basketball and football since 1998. He began his broadcasting career in 1979 as a news anchor and reporter for WLW radio in Cincinnati, his hometown.

Since then, he has called Detroit Pistons games as the play-by-play announcer from 1980-81, called Michigan football and basketball games (1981-87), Cincinnati Bearcats (1988, 1994-98) and Cincinnati Bengals games (1996). He also served as the Bengals preseason announcer on WKRC-TV from 2000 to 2010.

Keels has been named the NSMA Broadcaster of the Year six times (2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2021 and 2023) and was inducted into the Ohio Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2007.

The enshrinement ceremony will take place on June 6 at the Hilton Polaris in Columbus. Keels is joined by 13 other people who will be inducted into the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame that day.