• CSC Awards Release
•
Feature Stories: Jeff Honza, Rich Moser, Kyle Schwartz, Ray Simmons
Four communications professionals working in the Ohio Valley Conference have been honored with awards from the College Sports Communicators (CSC).
That included a Lifetime Achievement Award for Southern Indiana's
Ray Simmons and 25-Year Awards for Eastern Illinois'
Rich Moser, Southeast Missouri's
Jeff Honza and the OVC's
Kyle Schwartz.
The CSC Lifetime Achievement Awards are presented to members for distinguished career service who have served at least 25 years in the profession and who are retiring, have retired, or are leaving the athletic communications profession. Simmons, who is retiring this summer, is one of 15 honorees this season.
CSC’s 25-Year Awards are presented to CSC members who have completed 25 years full-time (or more) in the sports communications profession (as of July, 2026) or who have been a member for 25 years. The trio of OVC individuals are among 25 members honored this year.
All of the 2026 CSC special award winners will be honored at CSC’s 69th annual convention, #CSCUnite26, from June 7-10 at Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. The convention is held in conjunction with NACDA and Affiliates Convention Week.
Simmons was named the University of Southern Indiana Director of Athletic Communication in August of 1989 and continued to work in the athletic communication field for more than 35 years at USI. He served as Southern Indiana Athletics’ media liaison and primary media contact for the men’s basketball and baseball programs. During his tenure at USI, Simmons helped to promote and publicize four NCAA Division II national players of the year, more than 44 All-Americans, and 14 Academic All-Americans. He also has helped to publicize the USI’s team successes such as the USI baseball 2010 and 2014 national championships; men’s basketball 1995 national championship; the 1994, 2004, 2019 men’s basketball Elite Eight teams; the 1997 women’s basketball national finalist team; and the 2007, 2016, and 2018 baseball runs to the national championship series. Simmons, who has helped guide USI’s transition to Division I, was the host site media coordinator when USI and the City of Evansville hosted the 2002, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2021, 2022 NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Elite Eight and the 2004 and 2009 NCAA Division II Men’s and Women’s Cross Country National Championships. He also was the media liaison to CBS Sports for the national championship events.
Moser was hired as the Sports Information Director at Eastern Illinois in June 2006 following six and half years as an assistant SID at Gonzaga University. In the summer of 2009 he moved into his current role of Associate AD for Media & Public Relations. At EIU Moser oversees the media relations, graphic design, tickets, ESPN+ and Athletic Hall of Fame. In addition he previously covered corporate sponsorships and marketing & promotions for the athletic department. He currently has oversight for the Panthers sports productions on ESPN+. As the contact for EIU football he has helped host three FCS home playoff games as the Panthers have made six post-season appearances in football since 2006. He also helped facilitate the ESPNU All-Access 30-minute show in 2013 as the season was highlighted by quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo winning the Walter Payton Award. In addition he has hosted the EIU weekly coaches show Panther Sports Talk on WEIU TV and served as the play-by-play commentator for several broadcasts.
Honza is in his 17th year at Southeast Missouri. He was named Associate Director of Athletics for Strategic Communications in October 2022 after spending four years as Assistant Director of Athletics and serves as the sport administrator for softball in addition to enhancing opportunities for strategic exposure through video, digital, print and social media platforms. Honza leads the public relations and coverage efforts for the Redhawks 15 intercollegiate athletic programs and is the primary contact for football, men's basketball and softball, while overseeing ESPN+ productions, instant replay and the day-to-day administration of SEMO's Strategic Communications Department. Honza is in charge of coordinating statistics management at all home athletic events, distributing press releases and supporting the Department of Athletics via external media relations. He helps coordinate video material for the Department of Athletics, supervises instant replay for football, basketball, volleyball, baseball and softball, and facilitates weekly radio productions for football and basketball. Additionally, Honza chairs the SEMO Athletics Hall of Fame Committee. Prior to SEMO, Honza spent nine years as Associate Director of Media Services at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.
Schwartz joined the Ohio Valley Conference as Assistant Commissioner for Media Relations in November 2006. In August 2016 his title changed to Assistant Commissioner for Strategic Communications to better reflect the changing job responsibilities associated with collegiate athletics. In July 2023 he was promoted to the role of Associate Commissioner. He is in charge of publicity efforts for the Conference and is the primary media relations contact for football, men’s basketball, baseball, men's soccer, men’s and women’s cross country and men’s and women’s golf. He serves as the media coordinator for the OVC's annual basketball and baseball tournaments and is also in charge of coordinating special events for the Conference, including the league's Honors Brunch and Hall of Fame and the annual Football and Basketball Media Days. Schwartz also oversees the OVC's official website and social media platforms. Beginning in 2015 he took over as the staff liaison to the men's and women's golf coaches groups and serves as tournament director for the OVC Men's & Women's Golf Championships. Prior to the OVC, Schwartz worked at the University of Northern Colorado and Southeast Missouri State University.