Lehi Sports
Lehi teams honor longtime prep broadcaster
In the middle of rivalry night on Friday (Feb. 7), all four of the Skyridge and Lehi basketball teams paused to recognize one of the premier voices of prep sports in Utah, Dusty Litster, who has been sidelined battling cancer for the past year.
Litster and colleague Dane Stewart have been broadcasting high school games in Utah for the last couple of decades, first for Comcast On Demand and now as part of KSL Sports Rewind.
In between the girls and boys games, Litster and his family were invited to center court, where he was presented with a game ball by Lehi Athletic Director Quincy Lewis and Skyridge Coach Jeff Gardner after watching a highlight reel of his broadcasts over the years.
During the ceremony, he was surrounded by the basketball players from both schools, who were all wearing custom warm-up shirts with Litster’s name on the back.
“The idea was born this fall in conversation with Dane Stewart,” Gardner explained. “We discussed what we could do to show Dusty how much he is loved and missed. We decided that honoring Dusty at a game would be an amazing thing.
“Quincy Lewis, Sean Seastrand, Jon Lehman, Reed Bromley, Shay Nielson and I all jumped at the idea of coming together and doing a tribute for Dusty,” he continued. “Dane Stewart and Vynce Francis were also very involved in the planning and execution.
“It was a wonderful thing for our athletes to participate in and to gain life perspective and inspiration through Dusty and his family’s courage through this difficult time,” Gardner said.
“Everyone involved loves Dusty and it was so awesome that he was feeling well enough to attend and even do the play-by-play for the entire game,” the coach said. “Dusty is an incredible man and friend, and we are so blessed to know him and have benefited greatly from his work through the years.”
Gardner first met Litster at the beginning of the present iteration of both of their careers. “When I started coaching, Dusty started producing and commentating on high school games on Comcast around the same time,” Gardner said.
“At the time it was the only place you could watch a televised high school basketball game in Utah. Over the last 20 years, it feels like we have grown up together,” he said.
“Dusty and Dane Stewart have taken the Comcast on demand games to what is now high school rewind on KSL, which produces many games each season including all of our Skyridge region games,” he went on.
“Over the years Dusty has spent countless hours (as a side job) promoting and covering high school sports,” the coach said. “His recall and love of high school sports is unmatched.”
During the ceremony, Gardner praised Litster’s contributionsand told the reasons why he and the others involved wanted to present him with this token tribute.
“It doesn’t take you long (to see that Dusty Litster) loves the game, knows the game, loves the kids, and does his homework,” Gardner said. “You would think he was the hometown commentator. How he knew all the stories and all the kids. His recall and preparation were just amazing.
“I miss his presence and the way you felt his love and care. Lehi and Skyridge came together and said ‘Let’s have a night where we honor Dusty.’ Our purpose is to let him know that we are there with him in the fight, that we love him, and we think about him often.
“We’re anxiously waiting for him to beat it and to be able to get back on the mic,” the coach concluded.
“Dusty has had a tremendous positive influence on high school sports throughout his broadcasting career,” Lewis said. Lewis’s teams were also covered by Litster during his 16 years as a high school coach in Utah.
“He is universally loved and respected throughout the State. I was honored to be part of him being recognized by Jeff Gardner and Skyridge. Their efforts were all class,” Lewis added.
