The “Voice of the Buckeyes” will be inducted into the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame this June.
Paul Keels is one of 14 men and women in the 2026 induction class, a group comprising former players, coaches, officials, and administrators. He is the lone broadcaster in the group.
Keels has called Ohio State football and men’s basketball games since 1998. While known more for his work alongside former Ohio State All-American offensive lineman Jim Lachey on fall Saturdays, Keels has been a staple of basketball broadcasts next to former Buckeye guard Ron Stokes for decades.
A Cincinnati native, Keels began his broadcasting career in his hometown as a news anchor and reporter for WLW Radio in 1979. The following year, he moved to Detroit, calling Pistons games on WJR Radio in 1980 and 1981 before hopping over to WWJ Radio to call Michigan football and basketball games from 1981-87.
Following a brief stint at UPI Radio Network in Washington, D.C., Keels returned to the Queen City in 1988 to cover the Cincinnati Bearcats and host a sports talk show on WCKY-AM. He spent the next few years bouncing between stations, namely Dayton’s WHIO Radio (1992-95) and WLW to call Cincinnati Bengals and Bearcats games (1995-97).
While broadcasting Ohio State games over the past 28 years, Keels also served as a Bengals preseason announcer for WRKC-TV from 2000 to 2010 and worked on Cincinnati Reds television broadcasts in 2010.
Keels and his fellow inductees will be enshrined in the Hall of Fame on June 6 at the Hilton Polaris in Columbus. The enshrinement will feature a red carpet ceremony beginning at 4:30 p.m., followed by a formal introduction ceremony with video tributes. Tickets for the event will be available at a later date.
