Stew Salowitz Honored by CoSIDA
Illinois Wesleyan University has a history of winning sports programs and no one can tell you more of that history than Stew Salowitz. Stew has been associated with Titan athletics for 42 years, the last 25 as the school’s sports information director.
A native of the twin cities of Bloomington-Normal, Stew grew up in a family linked with sports. His mother was a golfer and bowler and his father the director of the heath center and a team physician at Illinois State. He got to ride the team bus occasionally and the family would regularly have members of the Redbird baseball team over for home-cooked meals.
His dad was also a friend of Fred Young, the sports editor of the Bloomington Pantagraph and an Illinois Wesleyan booster. Prior to playing in the state-of-the-art Shirk Center, IWU basketball teams were tough to beat in the iconic tight quarters of Fred Young Fieldhouse.
“Fred Young got me into sports, keeping score at games and was instrumental in telling me from a young age that I have to go to Illinois Wesleyan,” Stew said. “It has been a good fit for a long time.”
Stew graduated from Central Catholic High School in 1972 and followed Young’s persuasion by enrolling at Illinois Wesleyan that fall. A year later, so too did arguably the most recognized athlete IWU has produced in 14-year NBA veteran Jack Sikma. Fresh out of college, Stew began a 12-year radio career in 1976 by calling every game of Sikma’s senior year for WAKC Radio.
“We played Bradley and at Jacksonville and Florida,” recalled Salowitz. “It was fun traveling around with those guys who I was in school with the year before.”
From 1977-88, Salowitz’ afternoon show on WJBC radio was consistently one of the highest rated in the nation, but after spinning records and broadcasting high school and college games for more than a decade, he was again lured back to his alma mater in 1988 to replace the legendary CoSIDA Hall of Famer Ed Alsene in the university’s communications office as sports information director.
In the early days, the job also entailed writing general news stories and editing the Alumni Magazine, but with the advent of technology and the increasing success of IWU’s athletic teams, his responsibilities have shifted to sports full time.
Over the years, Stew has handled media relations for two national NCAA Division III women’s basketball championships (2010 & 2011), two national D-III volleyball championships (2007 & 2008), two national D-III indoor track championships (2000 and 2005), the 2000 NCAA Division III women’s golf championships, 43 regional tournament games for men’s and women’s basketball, six regional baseball tournaments, four D-III softball regionals, four D-III football playoff games, and the 2013 Division III women’s soccer first and second round games.
Stew Salowitz
“Having a person with the depth of experience and the sense of history at our school and a sense of what building on our history means is really important.” said Dennie Bridges, IWU athletic director and the winningest basketball coach in Division III history. “But Stew has also done a great job of adjusting to the modernization of the job with the Internet, all the social media and with the addition of sports.”
Randy Kindred, a long-time sportswriter for the Pantagraph, agreed. “It’s incredible everything he’s able to do in terms of their website. I would put it up against many Division I web sites in terms of the information that is there and how easy it is to access. I don’t know how he does it to be honest because he doesn’t really have a full-time staff.”
Salowitz explained his goals of providing information. “I think I benefitted from being in the media all those years. I try to provide the kind of information I would have wanted if I were going to broadcast a game. I try to give people interesting notes or tidbits. I have always looked at it from the perspective of how I can make this game more interesting.”
Responsible for publicizing all 22 IWU sports, Salowitz also has a reputation for doing the job well while keeping it in perspective.
“Stew has the demeanor during stressful times that I think we would all like to emulate,” said Dave Wrath, CoSIDA Hall of Famer and long-time SID at conference-rival Augustana College. “He doesn’t ever seem to let the pressures of the job get to him. He always keeps a smile on his face and a joke on his lips. He keeps it light, while at the same time, maintaining the utmost professionalism.”
Salowitz was inducted into the media section of the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2012. He is the author of four books, a nationally published book on collecting sports memorabilia, two on McLean County sports, and “Chicago’s Personality Radio” about WLS radio in the 1960s. He enjoys riding his motorcycle, following the San Francisco Giants, and working on the Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle. Stew Salowitz – Illinois Wesleyan – press row
He takes that passion into the office where in slower days his student workers compete against the clock to solve word jumbles and find the difference games.
“Stew is one of the funniest, smartest guys you’ll ever meet,” said Brett Moore, who was a student worker under Salowitz for four years and is now an assistant SID at Stanford. “His wit is better than anybody that I’ve ever met.
“It was always fun to go to work, not just because I liked the work I was doing, but just being around him brightened my day. I got such a knowledgeable foundation for the industry from him. There is no way I’d be in the place I am now without the things that he taught me.”
Moore also played for one of Salowitz’ most memorable teams, the 2010 national championship baseball squad, that made an incredible run despite finishing just over .500, barely qualifying for the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) tournament, and needing a conference tournament title just to make it to the NCAA regional. Salowitz also has fond memories for the Titans’ 1997 men’s basketball team, which claimed the national title after finishing third the year before.
Stew said his secret to his easy-going personality has a lot to do with working in his hometown.
“I have a great network of friends that I have had forever, guys I went to high school and college with,” Salowitz quipped. “If I start thinking that I’m bigger than who I am, they could bring me down in an instant and make me realize that there is nothing special about me at all.”
Stew Salowitz at a basketball game at the Shirk Center