David Kaplan is an American radio and television personality. Kaplan hosts the radio program Sports Central on WGN radio in Chicago. Kaplan has been with WGN Radio since April of 1995. During the basketball season, he is a play-by-play and color commentator on Fox Sports covering college basketball. Before coming to WGN Radio, David was midday host on WMVP in Chicago after it adopted an all-sports format in November of 1993. David Kaplan has been with WGN Radio since April of 1995, as a sports reporter, and now as the host of Sports Central, heard weeknights from 7:00-9:00p.m. During that time, he has earned six Achievement In Radio (A.I.R.) Awards, including three for best sports talk show and two for best sportscast. He was named "Newsfinder of the Year" by the Associated Press for breaking several major stories. During the college football and basketball seasons he is a play-by-play and color commentator on ESPN Television. He also does work for Comcast Sportsnet Chicago throughout the year where he does play by play of college football and basketball in addition to his duties as the voice of both of Chicago's professional lacrosse teams, the Shamrox (indoor) and the Machine (outdoor).. Before coming to WGN Radio, David was midday host on WMVP-AM in Chicago after it adopted an all-sports format in November of 1993. He has completed television work on ESPN 2, SportsChannel, Creative Sports, and Prime Network. He is a former college basketball coach at Northern Illinois University where he was an assistant to Hall of Fame coach John McDougal (1982-86) and was a regional scout for both the Indiana Pacers and the Seattle Supersonics of the NBA from 1988-92.. In 1988, Kaplan was the Player Personnel Director for the Chicago Express of the World Basketball League (WBL). His duties included drafting and signing all players as well as trades and contracts. Kaplan has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show as well as in the award winning documentary film Hoop Dreams, which is a story of the dream of two Chicago area prep stars to reach the NBA. Raised in Skokie, Illinois, David attended Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota where he received a Bachelor of Arts in English and played both football and baseball. He is still playing baseball as a member of the 35 and older Chicago North Panthers of the Men's Senior Baseball League and is an avid golfer. David and his wife Mindy reside in the northern suburbs and he is the father of a 13-year old son, Brett, and stepfather to 17-year old Nicholas, 16-year old Alex and 14-year old Garret. He also has two flat out phenomenal dogs, a miniature Golden Doodle named Studly and a yellow labrador named Rocky.
