A champion of diversity
ZANESVILLE – It was sports that grabbed his attention as a youngster.
“I was active,” recalled Krandall Brantley, “but spent my fall weekends glued to the TV watching professional and college sports. My parents bought sports books and kept their subscription to Sports Illustrated to feed my interest. It’s been my goal to become an ESPN anchor since middle school.
“During college,” he added, “I grew particularly interested in the intersection of sports, media and social activism — how athletes use their platforms and notoriety to spread awareness and seek change.”
Brantley is now the diversity outreach coordinator at Zane State College.
“I’ve always believed education is a crucial component of individuals reaching their full potential,” he said. “Whether it’s funding, essential resources, and fair access to opportunities – education is critical in achieving equality in society.”
Now 28, Brantley grew up in Zanesville, graduated from Zanesville High School in 2011 and Kent State in 2015 with a degree in broadcast journalism. He then earned a master’s in sports journalism from Arizona State in 2016.
“My career in broadcast journalism started at Kent State,” he said. “I had the opportunity to get involved with their student media network, TV2, starting my first semester at Kent.”
That led to internships in Cleveland and Dallas. In Arizona while at Arizona State, Brantley covered the Phoenix Suns and MLB spring training, among others. He produced stories on Arizona PBS such as Muhammad Ali’s processional and public memorial service in Louisville. And he covered Arizona delegates at the Republican National Convention, and former President Trump’s rally at the Arizona state fairgrounds.
“In my capstone semester in Los Angeles,” he said, “I was able to produce stories for Fox Sports West and the Pac-12 Networks. This was the groundwork that allowed me to work in production at ESPN and NFL Network.”
Then COVID-19 hit and shut everything down, so he came back to Zanesville.
“I moved home to be close to family and work virtually,” Brantley said. “I then made the decision to take a different career path I’d been contemplating for a while.
“My role at Zane State,” he added, “is to recruit and retain students of color. I’ve enjoyed collaborating with Zanesville community leaders and learning from Strivetogether partnerships regionally and nationally. We believe this partnership will positively impact Muskingum County for generations to come from kindergarten readiness through post-secondary education.
“Students letting me know they decided to enroll in college has been the best part,” he noted. “I look forward to following each student’s journey.”
“I’m so thankful Krandall returned to his hometown to live and work,” stated James Mcdonald, board chair at Zane State College and CEO of Allwell Behavioral Health Services. “It demonstrates his value of family and appreciation for the community that helped develop him. This bright young man will not only be an inspiration to our students, but his work at Zane State is an example of the great career opportunities available to young people of color in our area.”
“While I no longer work in sports production,” Brantley noted, “the lessons learned during the pursuit of my goals equipped me to take on other challenging yet rewarding opportunities. Overall, I feel incredibly blessed with where life’s path has taken me.”
Zane State College is located at 1555 Newark Road in Zanesville. For more information, call 740-588-5000 or log on www.zanestate.edu.