The Scott Van Pelt Show made its debut on ESPN Radio in July, 2009. The show’s format is to present two friends and passionate fans talking sports with their listeners, leaning on their expertise and experience (Scott’s SportsCenter, golf and college sports; Ryen’s the NBA and college football from hosting ESPN Radio’s College GameDay) to discuss and debate the day’s biggest sports stories.
SVP & Russillo features the “Best Available Video” (2:58 p.m. ET on ESPNEWS); “Carl’s Stone Cold Lock of the Century of the Week” (animation, Fridays during the NFL season) special NCAA Final Four brackets decided by listener votes (in 2012 Tupac Shakur bested Eminem in the MC Bracket finals in a close race), and Scott’s “One Big Thing,” (daily at 2:45 p.m.) among the features that showcase their personalities.
Join SVP & Russillo:
Ideas for a “Best Available Video” can be shared on Twitter using #bestavailablevideo
Twitter: @SVPandRussillo
E-mail: SVPandRussillo@espnradio.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/svpandrussillo
Scott Van Pelt joined ESPN in Spring 2001 as the network’s lead professional golf reporter. He has since become a SportCenter anchor and host of a weekday afternoon show on ESPN Radio, while remaining the lead reporter and host of the network’s coverage of golf’s grand slam events.
In July 2009, The Scott Van Pelt Show (Now SVP and Russillo) made its debut on ESPN Radio and simulcast on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD. Previously, Van Pelt was co-host of ESPN Radio’s Tirico & Van Pelt each weekday afternoon. The simulcast moved to ESPNEWS in September 2011.
In 2001, Van Pelt sat down for a one-on-one interview with Tiger Woods after he won the U.S. Open to capture the “Tiger Slam,” four majors in a row. The interview was featured on ESPN’s Sunday Conversation.
Van Pelt joined ESPN from The Golf Channel (TGC) where he was an anchor and reporter for the sport-specific network from 1994-2000. Soon after joining TGC’s on-air team, Van Pelt reporting skills helped him to move up the ranks quickly. At TGC, he was the co-host of Golf Central, Leaderboard Report and occasional host of Viewer’s Forum – all signature studio programs for the network.
Over his career, Van Pelt has covered all the major golf tournaments – the Masters, the U.S. Open, the British Open and the PGA Championship. Following Tiger Woods’ victory at the 1997 Masters (his first at the tournament), Van Pelt conducted an exclusive half-hour interview with the young Woods for a critically acclaimed network special, Tiger Woods: In His Own Words. He has also covered numerous USGA events, NCAA Men’s and Women’s championships, BUY.COM Tour events and Senior PGA Tour events.
Van Pelt began his sports broadcasting career at WTTG-TV (FOX) in Washington, D.C., in 1990. He worked in WTTG sports studio production department contributing content for the station’s The 10:00 News, Sunday Night’s Sports Extra and specials on the Washington Redskins.
A native of Brookville, Md., Van Pelt graduated from the University of Maryland with a bachelor’s degree in radio/television and film.
Ryen Russillo is the co-host of the show and is the balancing point to SVP.
Russillo is also host of the network’s College GameDay (noon-7 p.m. Saturdays throughout the football season).
Russillo joined ESPN Radio in February 2006, and has hosted NBA Sunday with Jamal Mashburn, The Baseball Show with Steve Phillips, and the NFL Draft. He has also filled in on talk shows including Tirico and Van Pelt, The Herd (simulcast on ESPNU), and the Doug Gottlieb Show.
Prior to joining ESPN, Russillo was a sports voice in Boston, Mass. where he was a CSN studio host and NBA analyst, and a Sporting News Radio host. Previously, he was play-by-play voice of the Trenton (N.J.) Thunder, the Boston Red Sox Double A team.
Russillo, a native of West Tisbury, Mass., is a 1997 graduate of the University of Vermont.
