Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 1, 1993 TAG: 9305010028
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BRIAN DeVIDO SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
If you see a couple of Radford University students wearing NBA logos atop their graduation caps Saturday, know this: They're not just your average, die-hard hoops fans. They're two guys who've made it to the big time.
Neither Mike Shank nor Jon Steinberg played basketball in high school or college. But that didn't stop the Radford seniors from making the cut in the NBA this summer.
Shank got one of four available jobs with the Boston Celtics as a public-relations intern. Steinberg got one of the two spots to do the same job for the Washington Bullets.
And while the positions are unpaid and the hours long, both say they're excited about the prospect of working for an NBA franchise - at least for the summer.
"Actually, I used to be a die-hard Lakers fan who never rooted for the Celtics until they called me about the job," Shank said. "I have a whole new attitude about them now."
One of Shank's big tasks will be to put together a media guide for Boston's rookie camp in mid-June. He hopes Michigan junior Chris Webber decides to enter the NBA draft and attends the camp.
"I'm hoping maybe I'll get to hang out with him and some of the other big names," he said.
Steinberg's responsibilities will include helping out with the Bullets' media and draft guides, and also helping with the team's monthly newsletter.
"It's hard work, but I would pay them to do this," he said.
After sending out more than 20 resumes to professional sports franchises - including the Baltimore Orioles and the Washington Redskins - Steinberg finally got a reply from the Bullets in the beginning of April.
"I got the call on a Friday afternoon," he said. "I thought it was a prank at first."
One of Shank's public relations professors, Roland Lazenby, had written a book on the Celtics. When Shank told Lazenby he was looking for an internship with a pro sports franchise, he looked no further. Lazenby called the Celtics, who then called Shank.
"I talked to a guy from the Celtics and then waited three weeks until I talked to him again," he said. "It was the longest three weeks of my life."
Shank, who is from Cumberland, Md., has plenty of experience in the field. He worked as a sports public relations assistant at Radford University for three years, was the PR director for the Pulaski Braves last summer, and has been the sports editor for Radford's student paper, the Daily Tartan.
He even kept the statistics for ESPN's Tim Brando during the Big South basketball championship game the last two years.
Steinberg, from Gaithersburg, Md., has worked in Radford University's sports PR office for a year and also has been sports editor of the Daily Tartan.
"I love writing, but with this job you don't have to be as objective as a reporter does," he said.
Shank agrees.
"With public relations, you work with positive things," he said. "You don't want to be negative about your team."
And as far as the two journalism majors are concerned, this is a stepping stone to bigger and better things.
"This will be the best time to learn how to do PR for a team," Shank said. "They're not going to be in season, so people are around to show you how to do the work."
And about those graduation caps?
"We want to get them," Steinberg said. "I think we will."
Who can blame them? They've made it to the big time.
by CNB