Kentucky Wesleyan Sports Information Director Emeritus Roy Pickerill will be one of four inductees who are to be enshrined into the Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame. Pickerill served as KWC’s SID for 29 ½ years before retiring in 2016 as the longest tenured SID in the school’s history.
The induction ceremony will be in September, at Louisville’s historic Freedom Hall. The announcement was made Wednesday morning at a press conference at Churchill Downs by the Louisville Sports Commission, owners and operators of the KSHOF.
The four 2024 inductees include Pickerill, U of L and NFL quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, The Cats Pause founder Oscar Combs and UK and NBA guard Tony Delk.
Pickerill joins fellow Panther honorees: basketball All-Americans “King” Kelly Coleman (2000), George Tinsley (2011), Dallas Thornton (2022), basketball coach Guy Strong (2002) and the Voice of the Panthers Joel Utley (2016).
During his illustrious career Pickerill has been inducted into multiple halls of fame including the Wesleyan Alumni Hall of Fame in 2012, and the Athletic Hall of Fame in 2015. The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 1999, and the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2008. However, Pickerill said that being inducted into the Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame is the greatest of all his accolades and accomplishments.
“It’s the greatest and highest award of my professional career,” he said. “I’ve just been so blessed to be able to do what I love for all these years. Sports information is my dream job. When you have a dream job like I do, I’ve never worked a day in my life. This is the reason why I do it, and I’m going to be doing it for as long as I can. I’m starting 54 years in August, and I’ve always been passionate because it’s my love. I’m so glad I was named SID, and it was my dream job.”
In his 53 years with KWC, the Louisville native was first a student at the school for 4 years before graduating in 1975 with a bachelor’s degree in physical education. He took the position of Assistant SID for 11 seasons before getting promoted to SID in 1988. After serving as SID for 29 ½ years, he retired in 2016 as the longest tenured SID in KWC’s history. He is now in his seventh year as SID Emeritus. Pickerill said he’s been able to have such a long and successful career thanks to KWC being such a magical place.
“Kentucky Wesleyan is a magical place,” he said. “Kentucky Wesleyan is a place where dreams come true for our students, for our professors, for our staff and for our alumni. It’s almost like Disneyland or Disney World. It’s a magical place where dreams come true, and it’s so true. That’s the reason why I’ve been with Wesleyan all these years. They have let me do what I do, and it’s been great. I’ve been through 13 presidents, 13 athletic directors, 79 coaches and a tad over 7,500 students in my 53 years.”
As for his future, Pickerill plans to continue working with KWC in sports information for as long as he possibly can. His passion and love for his job trumps any thoughts of stopping any time soon.
“That’s not in my vocabulary,” he said. “I hope to continue doing what I do and give everything I have to Kentucky Wesleyan to make it more special and magical than it was yesterday.”
