Scott Diamond
Scott Diamond is a retired Canadian-born baseball pitcher who is also a member of BU’s sports Hall of Fame. Diamond pitched for the Bearcats from 2005 to 2007. During his time in Vestal, he started 37 times in his three-year tenure. Diamond tossed a 2.68 ERA in his final season, being credited with a 5-3 record in 12 appearances. With Diamond on the mound, the Bearcats elevated to the top of the conference, winning the regular season America East title in 2007. Following his time at Binghamton, Diamond signed as an undrafted free agent with the Atlanta Braves organization.
Diamond spent some time in the minor leagues, quickly moving up the ranks from Class A to AAA in two years. In 2009, Diamond received one of the greatest honors in baseball as he was selected to represent team Canada in the World Baseball Classic. Soon after, he made the move to the Minnesota Twins. There, Diamond became the first BU baseball player to reach Major League Baseball (MLB). In Diamond’s major league debut, he pitched six and one-third innings, allowing three runs. After being sent down to AAA Rochester, Diamond came back a month later where he pitched six innings, allowing only three hits as he was credited with his first career win. In 2012, the former Bearcat was selected as the Twins’ pitcher and Most Outstanding Rookie. Among American League pitchers, Diamond ranked in the top 15 in walk/hits per nine and ERA. The following year, the Binghamton Hall of Famer struggled to replicate his previous year as his ERA ballooned to 5.43 in 24 appearances. He would not pitch in MLB again, until 2016 with one appearance with the Toronto Blue Jays, his last stint in the majors. Diamond would graduate from Binghamton in 2011. Following a stint in South Korea, Diamond went into realty.
Tony Kornheiser
Tony Kornheiser is a sports television personality who co-hosts “Pardon the Interruption,” a daily sports talk show that has aired on ESPN since 2001. Kornheiser, originally from Lynbrook on Long Island, came to Binghamton in 1967. During his time in college, Kornheiser was the Sports Editor of Pipe Dream and worked at WHRW.
After Kornheiser graduated, he began writing at Newsday in New York City. There, Kornheiser continued his sports journalism career as his coverage focused on local high school sports. After seven years at Newsday, the BU graduate moved to The New York Times, where Kornheiser differentiated himself with a writing style that emphasized a more humorous tone. In 1979, he moved to The Washington Post, where he wrote his “breakthrough” feature on MLB Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan in 1980. This piece was the first of Washington Post’s Inside Sports. To this day Kornheiser has been critical of the piece, saying he would decrease it “by about 1,100 words” to Michael MacCambridge in Grantland’s “Director’s Cut: ‘Bringing It All Back Home,’ by Tony Kornheiser.”
As time went on, Kornheiser made the move to ESPN where he rose to sports celebrity status. Kornheiser has appeared in ESPN The Magazine, ESPN Radio, NFL Broadcasts for the network and in multiple talk shows, most notably “Pardon the Interruption.” In 2017, Kornheiser, alongside three others, was honored by BU with a Doctor of Letters recognition.
Karl Ravech
Karl Ravech is an American journalist who is primarily known for being the host of the popular ESPN show “Baseball Tonight.” On top of “Baseball Tonight,” Ravech is known to appear on “SportsCenter” and has provided play-by-play commentary for the Little League World Series and MLB. Ravech was born in Needham, Massachusetts, and eventually graduated from Needham High School. He went on to attend Ithaca College where he received a bachelor’s degree in Communications. Ravech also happens to be one of Binghamton University’s most notable alumni in the focus of sports since attending graduate school at Binghamton. He received his master’s degree in management and leadership in 1990.
Throughout his career, Ravech has been affiliated with various different programs. During his years at Binghamton, he worked for local news network WBNG-TV as a sports anchor and reporter, even getting to cover the 1988 U.S. Open golf tournament. Ravech got his start at ESPN in 1993. From there, he was able to branch out and provided commentary for the MLB, college basketball and golf. As a color commentator for these sports, Ravech built a following that allowed him to succeed in his field for many years. Ravech now resides in Avon, Connecticut with his wife and two sons.
Scott Krug
Scott Krug is chief financial officer (CFO) and senior vice president of financial operations for the New York Yankees. He graduated from Binghamton University in 1996 and received a Bachelor of Science in accounting. Before his time working for the Yankees, Krug started as an audit for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), one of the Big Four accounting firms. Notably, Krug did not start his time with the Yankees as CFO and senior vice president of financial operations. Krug’s first two years with the team was as the director of internal audit and special projects and has since worked his way up into his current position.
During Krug’s years with the Yankees, he oversaw the team that won the World Series in 2009. He also played an important role in building the new Yankee Stadium. Krug’s role as CFO is crucial in overseeing the team’s finances and bringing events other than baseball to the stadium. Krug has a unique career that took a turn when he decided to start working for the Yankees. Instead of going down the common path, Krug pursued something bigger and has become one of Binghamton’s many notable alumni due to his successful career with the New York-based team.
Yun Qu
Yun Qu remains to this day one of the most decorated international athletes in Binghamton’s history. The Bearcat grew up in Hangzhou, China and competed as a swimmer at Binghamton from 2001 to 2004. Prior to her time at BU, she had already bolstered an international reputation. At the 1994 FINA World Aquatics Championships in Rome, Qu earned silver in both the 100- and 200-meter butterfly races and was ranked no. 1 and no. 2 in the world for each respective event at the time. Then, just two years later at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics, Qu competed for her home country in the 200-meter butterfly. She barely missed out on the podium, finishing fourth overall.
Qu continued her success in the sport when she arrived at BU years later. She qualified for the NCAA tournament twice, set seven school records and became Binghamton’s first-ever Division I All-American. Qu graduated in 2005 Summa Cum Laude with a bachelor’s degree in human development and was inducted into the BU Hall of Fame in 2011. Since she graduated, Qu has had coaching spells at Iowa State, Georgia Tech, Binghamton and Ithaca College, where she earned her master’s degree in sports psychology in 2006.