Dave Koehn has been the voice of the Milwaukee Bucks basketball team for the past 5 years, primarily on the radio. Prior to his current position, he was the broadcaster for Football and Men's Basketball at the University of Virginia.
When in NYC for a game against the NY Knicks, Koehn reached out to James Green to play squash, which is how they met.
Koehn, like many of our interviewees, started out as a tennis player growing up. He played frequently, but stopped when he began focusing on broadcasting when he was in college at the University of Kansas. When he moved to Charlottesville in Virgina, they were building the Boar’s Head facility at UVA which has state-of-the-art squash courts. He eventually started squash there as he had access to the facilities thanks to his broadcasting position at UVA.
He started playing with Mark Allen, the current UVA Head Coach, and says “I just got hooked.” He especially loved how much you don’t realize the intensity of the workout you’re getting as it's so fun to play.
He also talks about the love of the ‘game within the game,’ and how different each opponent is, and every single time you master a skill, there’s something else to master. “It’s a chess match with high intensity cardio.” Koehn laughs.
More than anything, Koehn loves how you can play squash at any time in the day, even laughing that he’s going to play with James after the interview, and will a few hours later be at Barclays Center calling the game courtside.
When discussing the squash community, Koehn spoke to James about how the community always welcomes new people from out of town, and he feels as though he has two spots to play at and feel welcome at in New York- both the Open Squash locations, praising Open Squash for its inclusivity for everyone who walks through the doors.
Speaking of the squash community, Koehn has a few favorite locations in the US to play in. The first he mentioned was the Ritz Carlton in Boston which has a few courts that he has played in a few times. He also enjoys playing in San Francisco at the Bay Club, which is really close to the arena he works at, so he can squeeze in a squash match on the road. The city of Atlanta he describes as “terrific” for squash, and of course, he also mentioned the Specter Center in Philadelphia, which has a huge amount of courts. He’s also played at the Detroit Athletic Club, which he said is fantastic.
As for considering commentating on squash as he does with basketball, Koehn says he has such a new appreciation for squash having played the game, and is in awe of the pros when he watches them. He finished his conversation with James by joking about bringing some NBA players to the courts to play. Keep your eyes peeled for some basketball stars at Open Squash!
Watch the full video interview here.