Latest / Illinois Valley - Shaw Local / Scott Slocum, Jim Teckenbrock to be honored with IHSA Distinguished Media Service Award
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- 0:05Scott Slocum, Jim Techenbrock to be honored with It's a Distinguished Media
- 0:09Service Award. This article is being read by
- 0:15an automated voice, brought to you by Everlit. On Monday, the Illinois
- 0:20High School Association announced the recipients for its twelfth class of the
- 0:24ISA Distinguished Media Service Award. A pair of Northern Illinois broadcast mainstays,
- 0:29W. J. All's Scott Slocum, and the late Jim Techenbrock of WSPY,
- 0:34the award's first posthumous recipient, were among the four honorees. The other
- 0:39recipients are Downstate Media Legends, Millie Lang and Dave Rigg. All four
- 0:44will be honored at 2026-27 high school sporting events. Per the ISA,
- 0:50Slocum has spent about four decades covering high school sports in the
- 0:54Joliet area, building a career that has included radio and TV broadcasting.
- 0:59A 1984 graduate of East Peoria, Slocum began his broadcasting career In
- 1:041988 as a sports reporter at WJOL, in Joliet, quickly becoming the
- 1:09station's sports director. From 1995 to 1999 he also worked as an
- 1:14afternoon sports reporter and anchor at WBBM News Radio 780 in Chicago,
- 1:20where he covered the city's professional sports scene. In 1999, Slocum became
- 1:26program director and morning show host at WALL positions he continues to
- 1:29hold today. His broadcasting career has included TV work with the ISA,
- 1:34Comcast Sportsnet, Sports Channel, CBS in Peoria and Lakeshore Public Sports. His
- 1:40career in the Jolia area has allowed him to broadcast numerous memorable
- 1:44moments, including the careers of standouts such as Gary Bell, Roger Powell
- 1:48Jr, Alondo Tucker, and Mike Alstott. He has also been part of
- 1:5318 state championship broadcasts involving Jolia Catholic and Providence football. He started
- 1:59the WJOL Boys Thanksgiving Classic, WJOL Girls Basketball Classic, WJOL Don Ladas
- 2:05Memorial Baseball Tournament, and WJL Softball Tournament, with all four continuing to
- 2:10provide memorable experiences and opportunities for student athletes. Slocum will be honored
- 2:16December 18 at Joliet West High School between the Joliet West vs.
- 2:20Joliet Central varsity Girls and Boys basketball games. Jim Tech Teckenbrock
- 2:27spent about three decades as one of the most recognizable voices in
- 2:30high school sports throughout Plano, Sandwich Yorkville, and surrounding communities. He became
- 2:36the first individual to receive the ESA Distinguished Media Service Award posthumously,
- 2:41following his passing on June 25, 2025, at the age of 76.
- 2:46His illness was unable to dissipate his passion for high school’s sports,
- 2:50as Tech called the Oswego Softball Team's Class IV a state championship
- 2:54game on the radio just nineteen days prior to his passing. A
- 2:591966 graduate of Plano, Tekkenbrock attended Wabonsea Community College before transferring
- 3:05to Northern Illinois University. He returned to Wabansea in 1977 as an
- 3:11instructor and coach, eventually becoming the school first women's basketball coach in
- 3:151979. He also coached softball, guiding the Chiefs to the 1982 Skyway
- 3:21Conference Championship. Tekkenbrock's coaching career led to his first broadcasting opportunity at
- 3:27WMRO in Aurora during the 1980s, where he provided game analysis. In
- 3:321996, he joined WSPY Radio and began what would become a nearly
- 3:3830-year career covering high school athletics. He was named the station's sports
- 3:42director in 2011. And became a defining voice for student athletes and
- 3:46sports fans throughout the area. Tekken Brock's broadcasting career included covering numerous
- 3:52IT-SAA state finals and state championship teams. Among his most memorable assignments
- 3:58were calling the back-to-back state titles by the Plano Football, 2006 and
- 4:022007, and Hinckley Big Rock Girls Basketball Teams, 2008-09, 2009-10,
- 4:09as well as the Newark Boys basketball title, Run in 2011. He
- 4:14was inducted into the Basketball Museum of Illinois Hall of Fame in
- 4:18the media category in 2014.