Levittown Resident Selected as Color Analyst for Islanders Playoffs

While most 21-year-olds are focused on partying right before they graduate from college, Kevin Dexter will be busy calling playoff games for the New York Islanders. 

Before he graduates from Hofstra in May, the Levittown resident will have the honor of covering the Islanders playoff games as the radio color analyst for WRHU 88.7 FM. 

“I've wanted to be a sportscaster since I was 5 years old, and one of my dreams has always been to cover the Islanders, so the whole experience really has been a dream come true,” Dexter said. “To get the chance to do color for about 60 NHL games so far is unbelievable, but now having a chance to do playoff games is going to be surreal.”  

Dexter, a 2009 graduate of Division High School, joined WRHU in his freshman year and was named Sports Director in 2011, holding the position for two years.

WRHU then signed a contract with the Islanders to become their flagship radio station before the 2010-11 season, when Dexter was a sophomore.

They are currently the only college radio station in the country to be the home of a major sports franchise. Students from the school do everything - all day to day operations, with the quality exactly what you would hear from a non-college radio station.

During the 2010-11 season, Dexter served as an iceside reporter, conducting intermission and postgame interviews. Then, during the 2011-12 season, Dexter became one of three color analysts to work alongside play-by-play announcer Chris King.

“Working alongside Chris has been unbelievable,” Dexter said. “A lot of people put into this situation, working with college students, could have an ego about it and not be so gracious, but Chris is such a joy to work with.”

Once the Islanders qualified for the playoffs this year, WRHU and the Islanders together selected Dexter to be the color analyst for every game, beating out two other well-qualified sportscasters.

“As someone who grew up 10 minutes from the Coliseum, I've followed the team closely my whole life, which makes this even more special,” Dexter said.

His experience at Hofstra and WRHU has clearly been a positive one. In 2012, he was named an Honorable Mention All-American by the Sportscasters Talent Agency of America. This year, he was named to the Nantz Award watch list, which puts him among the 15 top candidates to win the award in 2013. 

John Mullen is in his 9th year as Operations Manager at WRHU, focusing on growing young talent, and has 16 years of experience in radio. He said he can't think of a single time in history a college student has called a professional sports playoff game - an honor he said Dexter deserves. 

"He's very young - in age," Mullen said. "He has the skill level of a seasoned veteran. It's a great choice."

What’s next for Dexter after college and covering the Islanders? He graduates in three weeks and said he’s still in the process of finding a job, but he is hopeful he will land one soon. With his experience, that shouldn’t be much of a problem. 

"Show me another graduating senior who has a resume like his," Mullen said. "And he also happens to be a very nice young man."

You can listen to all the Islanders playoffs games on 88.7 FM or online at their website.