GRAHAM WHAPLES

Graham Whaples joined the Maryland Sports Commission in June 2019 as a Marketing and Communications Associate. In 2022, he was elevated to the position of Project Administrator. Graham started his professional career in broadcasting and local media in 2002. Graham has reported on more than 20 radio stations throughout the Mid-Atlantic, and served as a play-by-play broadcaster for Salisbury and Stevenson Universities, Navy, and UMBC. As a broadcaster for the Retrievers, Graham covered nine varsity sports and was a fill-in reporter for Men’s Basketball during the 2017-2018 season, the same year UMBC shocked the world with its thrilling NCAA March Madness upset of #1-seeded Virginia. 

Graham has received numerous awards in his professional and academic career. In 2006, he was awarded the Anne Arundel County Executive Citation for his work as a news reporter. In 2019, he was awarded the UMBC Athletics Department Leon Upshur Memorial Award for outstanding service to UMBC Athletics. He is a two-time recipient of the Maryland Comptroller’s Coin which recognizes Marylanders who make a difference in their communities (2013 & 2021), and has twice received the Maryland Governor’s Citation for his service to the state as a government employee (2018 & 2021).

Graham earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree from UMBC with a double major in Media Communications Studies and American Studies. He earned his Associate of Arts Degree from Anne Arundel Community College in Transfer Studies with a Communications focus.