Children are frequently asked the question, “what do you want to be when you grow up?” Nicolas Severini knew that he wanted to not only work in sports, but be one of the many voices to come through one’s car radio or television set.
Severini has paved the way to where he is now as the voice of a plethora of sports at Commonwealth University-Lock Haven (Haven Athletics), Bucknell University, and Lycoming College, as well as being a stringer for the Williamsport Sun-Gazette during the summer months when collegiate athletics are on pause.
In pursuit of his dream, Severini found himself attending the Reed College of Media at West Virginia University (WVU) and joining the student radio station, U92 – The Moose, during the second week of his freshman year.
Elated to see his name on the list of accepted students to the station’s sports staff, he started his radio journey providing sports updates at the bottom of the hour at 7:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., as well as signing up for every single broadcast that he possibly could. He didn’t care if he was producing or broadcasting pre- and post-game shows. These were all steps toward getting him to the play-by-play position that he longed for.
As his journey continued, Severini found himself becoming a co-women’s soccer producer alongside Matt Drabble, who is “one of the most talented broadcasters” that he’s ever worked with. During this time, they became the hosts of the weekly soccer show, “The Kickabout.” Severini also became the host of “The SportsPage,” which covered national sports and is one of the longest running sports radio shows in the state.
Severini fondly remembers a number of moments spent celebrating the successes of WVU women’s soccer with Drabble, most notably their win at the 2018 Big 12 Conference Championships:
“Being able to explore a faraway city is one of life’s great joys, and doing so with the team you’ve covered all year makes it extra special. I still remember WVU’s women’s soccer head coach Nikki Izzo-Brown bear hugging me and Matt Drabble when they won the conference championship. Experiencing those things, and working alongside incredibly talented people that I consider life long friends, it doesn’t get better than that.”
His time at The Moose not only provided him with ample opportunities in the studio, but he eventually got the play-by-play, in the press box, opportunities that he had dreamt of.
In an interview with Jimmy Gaudio, Severini very briefly mentions a women’s basketball game against the Kansas Jayhawks as being a career defining moment – it still is, and always will be.
“It truly was a day that I will always cherish. My freshman year, after months of signing up and doing things behind the scenes, the station’s women’s basketball producer Joey White gave me the green light to do play-by-play of a women’s basketball game against Kansas,” Severini said.
“Play-by-play! Against a Big 12 opponent! I got the email while walking out of a sociology class and despite it being the winter I could’ve sworn it was a perfectly sunny 70 degree day. The game was on Valentine’s Day 2018 at the famous WVU Coliseum. I can even recall the starters looking back. There is a saying I believe in that says you need to put 1000 hours into something to master it. That night in Morgantown were my first couple, and it’ll be a day I never forget.”
In the summer of 2021, Severini graduated from WVU with his bachelor’s of multidisciplinary studies in journalism, sports communication and history.
A year later, in August of 2022, Severini found himself becoming the voice of Haven Athletics through the local radio station, 99.9 – The Bear. During Lock Haven athletic events, he can be heard over the airwaves, but also through the live video broadcasts available on the PSAC Sports Digital Network.
During the current 2023-2024 school year, he has been able to bear witness and be the voice of some of Lock Haven’s biggest athletic triumphs in years: football having their most successful season in decades under the leadership of head coach Dan Mulrooney and prowess of running back Chris Collier; the National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Regional Championship; men’s basketball making it to the playoffs; women’s basketball making it to the PSAC Championship game against Gannon University; and lacrosse’s winning season that has landed them their first playoff bid since 2017.
He’s not always the only voice on these broadcasts. Knowing that he’s the only person that’s seemingly able to afford current students the opportunity to hone in on their color commentary skills, he’s given some students a chance.
“Nic has been an awesome guy to work with. He’s tough but fair,” said Ryan States, a sophomore media and journalism student. “If you are doing something wrong, he’ll give you pointers, but he will also tell you if you do something well.”
As the voice of Haven Athletics, he’s needed to work alongside Doug Spatafore, the senior director of athletic communication and marketing. While Severini’s presence in the press box is for The Bear, first and foremost, Spatafore sees him as an extension of the athletic communication and marketing team, and openly boasts about how much he brings to the table.
“I think one of the biggest things that Nic brings, specifically, [is] professionalism,” Spatafore said. “He brings a lot of energy; I think that’s one of my favorite things about him. You can tell he has a passion for the job. He does the homework, he comes prepared. He cares about the student athletes and coaches, getting the names correct, getting the stats right, and again, he just takes it very seriously and has a very professional approach, and I have a lot of respect for that. [We’re] really lucky to have him on our team, I think he does a fantastic job. I certainly look forward to working with him for years to come.”
Not only do the students, staff, coaches and athletes appreciate his work, but those sitting in the stands below the press box in Thomas Fieldhouse can be found giving him compliments as athletic events come to a close. Severini is a well-loved, important figure to the “Haven Faithful.”
Last summer, Severini took on the role of being a stringer for the Williamsport Sun-Gazette, specifically writing about the Williamsport Crosscutters and Little League World Series. Though these both fall into the realm of America’s pastime, baseball, these were “two obscenely different events that were equally fascinating.”
Severini felt that the atmosphere at the Crosscutters heavily reminded him of college as the majority of the staff were students who were employees or interns just trying to do what they love.
On the other side of the coin, the Little League World Series allowed Severini to see the universal, world-spanning love that so many have for baseball. He knew that it was a well-loved sport on the global level, but to see it up-front was crucial to his experience. His favorite story of the season was about the original facilities that were located 15 minutes away from the current stadium complex.
“Covering the history of the original location while thousands attend the event at the modern facilities in South Williamsport was a strange yet fascinating dichotomy,” Severini said.
While he has his degree in journalism, written coverage is something that he hadn’t done often until this point. He’s since learned that honing in on his sports writing skills has aided his broadcasting skills.
“My way of broadcasting attempts to tell chapters in a story,” Severini said. “By actually working to write and create stories on pen to parchment, I found that my storytelling on-air was able to improve as well.”
Overall, Severini is proud of what he’s been able to achieve since his days at WVU and believes that even though the business of sports entertainment is a hard one to break into, it’s been a worthwhile adventure. A staunch believer in the idea that “if you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life,” he urges students to continue to find that love and run with it. It’s a hard road in an industry like this, but he’s grateful for every single moment and opportunity he had thrown his way.
