By Robert Wilson
Bryan Eubank, the general manager of Jackson radio station SuperSport 930, and the Voice of Jackson Academy Athletics, wears a black bracelet around his right wrist as a constant reminder of the men who has most influenced his life.
The bracelet, with white letters, says these words: Today Is Going To Be A Good Day. The initials of Campbell Doty, Tom Wiley, Jobie Melton, Scott Branning, and Bill Eubank—all five who have passed away—are also printed in white letters on the bracelet.
Campbell Doty, from Brookhaven, and Eubank became close friends as classmates at Mississippi College. Doty was killed in an automobile accident when he was a sophomore at MC in 1995.
“Campbell made a huge impact on my life during the short time I knew him,” Eubank said. “I should have been in that car when he was killed. Campbell was studying to be a pastor and would have been Mr. MC. He was that kind of leader. There were many people who accepted Christ the night that he died and probably many more after that.”
Tom Wiley and Eubank went to First Baptist Church Jackson together and also were classmates in junior high and high school at Jackson Prep. He passed away from an enlarged heart in 2001.
“Tom and I were best friends,” Eubank said. ‘He was the first person that I noticed wore Jesus on his sleeve and wasn’t afraid to talk to someone about his faith. He inspired me to be more outspoken about my faith. He was like a brother to me. We called him ‘Smiley Wiley’ because he was always smiling.”
Jobie Melton’s family and Eubank’s family were very close. Eubank would spend the night at the Melton’s home frequently and was good friends with one of Melton’s sons, Andy. Melton died of a heart attack in 2004.
“Jobie was an incredible man of God,” Eubank said. “He was chairman of the deacons at First Baptist Jackson and was very involved in our church. He was a great influence on me.”
Scott Branning was a lifelong friend of Eubank’s. Branning, a coach and teacher at JA, lost a battle with cancer in January 2012.
“I saw how Scott handled his leukemia treatments when he was a child,” Eubank said. “I also saw Scott was able to deal with his cancer and how his family was able to use God in that situation for His glory.”
Eubank’s father, Bill, was a strong Christian influence in Bryan’s life. Bill, a longtime CPA in Jackson, passed away from cancer in October 2012, but the way his dad handled his situation spoke volumes to Bryan.
“I thank my dad for teaching me how to love my wife (Cyndi) by the way he loved our Mommy (Sandra),” Eubank said. “I thank him for teaching me how to love my children (Gracie, 12, Lila, 9, and Bryan, 8) by the way he loved us (Bryan has two brothers, Brad and Brett, both pastors). I thank him for teaching me how to love others by the way he displayed unconditional love to all. But most importantly, I thank my dad for teaching me how to love Christ and how to point others to Him.”
Bryan became a Christian on January 5, 1986, when he was in the sixth grade and 11 years old, and joined First Baptist Church Jackson and was baptized. After graduating from Jackson Prep, Bryan went to Mississippi College where he majored in communications and “fell in love with radio.”
Eubank worked while in college at MC’s Alive 93.5 (now Star 93.5) and WSLI 930 AM, worked with veterans like Farmer Jim Neal, and got on-air experience with news and sports and disc jockey. Eubank did the first play-by-play for Clinton High School in the state championship football game in 1999, started doing JA play-by-play with basketball and baseball in the 2000-2001 school year, and then started football in fall 2001. He’s been doing all three sports at JA ever since. Eubank, known as Eubie to many of his friends, started the Young Guns sports talk show, daily from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., on SuperSport 930 in 2007. Eubank also was the play-by-play announcer for the Mississippi Braves from 2005-2007.
Eubank was challenged by his father several years ago to be more open about his faith on the air.
“He wanted me to figure out how I could glorify God with this radio station,” Eubank said. “So one of the ways I did was starting prayer requests by giving an email address (prayer@supersport930) to share prayer requests with me. The first day I said it, I had five emails within five minutes. And they were just asking to pray about simple things, it was about addiction and divorce. It has been wonderful to see how God is working through the prayer requests I receive.”
Eubank continued, “Also, I started a devotional every day and started using the Jesus Calling devotional book last year and I’m reading it again this year. I had a lady come up to me the other day and tell me she listens to the show every day and looks forward to hearing the devotionals.”
