Monmouth College Athletics

Joe Tait, the veteran voice of the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers, began his broadcast career while serving as a manager for the football and basketball teams at Monmouth College. When the clock was running at basketball games, Tait would sit on the stage doing play-by-play into a tape recorder. Tait also served as the college’s sports information director in 1956 and 1957 and announced MC games for the new WRAM radio station in Monmouth until his graduation in 1959.

In 1970, he became the radio voice of the Cavaliers, letting everyone know “It’s basketball time at the Coliseum.” Tait also broadcast Cleveland Indians baseball for 16 years. A three-time winner of the Ohio Sportscaster of the Year Award, Tait was known to take time during his broadcasts to deliver updates on MC men’s basketball. He was named vice president of broadcast services for the Cavaliers in 1987.