Stan Saunders

When WJZ 13 tapped Stan Saunders to serve as a weekend sports anchor 22 years ago, the longtime Channel 13 reporter and 40-year broadcasting veteran–35 in television–was thrilled. A fan of all sports (and not too shabby a basketball player to boot!), Stan had covered sports for other stations prior to his arrival at WJZ in June 1991. News management here knew he had the right balance between hard news reporting skills and an encyclopedic knowledge of sports to well fill the weekend sports position at Maryland’s News Station and general assignment duties, too.

Stan, a multimedia sports journalist and sports videographer,  came to WJZ from WHBQ-TV in Memphis, where he had been an anchor and sports reporter since 1983. Prior to that assignment, he was assistant news director, street reporter, bureau chief, sports director, play-by-play announcer and talk show host at other television and radio stations in Florida, North Carolina and Virginia. At one juncture he was a college administrator, as an assistant vice president for development.

To demonstrate the versatility of Stan’s broadcasting career, the Miami, Fla. native won the “Best Series” award (for playing goalie in a professional soccer game) one year from the National Association of Local Television Sportscasters. Another year, he earned the “Outstanding Award for Political Reporting” in the Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. market and was listed as an ”Outstanding Young Man of America” in 1984.

Stan received a Master’s degree in Educational Media Technology and Instructional Development from North Carolina Central University in Durham, N.C. and his B.S. in Sociology from Bethune-Cookman College (now Bethune-Cookman University) in Daytona Beach, Fla. Following his stint as a college radio DJ, Stan attended the Miami Lakes Technical Education Center where he studied radio news broadcasting. He’s also a 1991 graduate of Leadership Memphis.  While in the Volunteer State, Stan served on the Advisory Board for the Tennessee State Department of Vocational and Technical Education.  While at Miami Edison Sr. High School, Stan was voted “Most Talented Senior.”

Stan, the father of eight, also has five grandchildren and two great grandchildren. In his spare time, he is an avid reader, church pianist, sports enthusiast and a much-requested public speaker. He was also an adjunct professor in the Electronic Media and Film department at Towson University.  He dreams of competing in the Senior Olympics either in racewalking or basketball.