Cawood Ledford (April 24, 1926 – September 5, 2001) was a Hall of Fame and longtime radio play-by-play announcer for the University of Kentucky basketball and football teams. Ledford's style and professionalism endeared himself to many sports fans in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Known as the consummate professional, Cawood Ledford's career spanned five decades, earning the distinction of the most honored and most celebrated sportscaster in Kentucky history. Fans always will remember his trademark phrases, such as "the Wildcats will be moving left to right on your radio dial" and "the Cats have gone to war," or simply, "Hello everybody, this is Cawood Ledford."

Mr. Ledford, known to all as "Cawood," was voted "Sportscaster of the Year" 22 times in the state. In addition to his service to the University of Kentucky, he was known as one of the most renowned thoroughbred racing sportscasters in the nation. His voice was familiar to fans of the Kentucky Derby as he called the "Run for the Roses" for 22 years. Three times he won the racing industry's highest honor, the prestigious Eclipse Award. Two times he won the "Englehard Award" for excellence in his coverage of horse racing. He also has received the "Silver Horseshoe" honor from the Kentucky Derby Festival for his contributions to racing and the "Dean Eagle Award" for his Kentucky Derby coverage.

But it was his work with the Wildcats that garnered him his reputation as one of the nation's finest broadcasters. The graduate of Centre College began his broadcasting career at WHLN Radio in Harlan in 1951. He began calling UK football and basketball games for WLEX Radio in 1953, competing with other radio networks for listeners while sharpening his skills working solo. In 1956, he moved to Louisville and began a 22-year career with WHAS Radio while still calling the games for the Wildcats. In 1967, after as many as five different networks were carrying the broadcasts, exclusive rights were granted to UK football and basketball and Mr. Ledford was named the Wildcats' play-by-play announcer.

He worked for a number of coaches at Kentucky. His first season calling football was Bear Bryant's last season as the Wildcats' coach. In addition, he called games for Blanton Collier, Charlie Bradshaw, John Ray, Fran Curci, Jerry Claiborne and Bill Curry. In basketball, he worked for the legendary Adolph Rupp until his retirement in 1972. He also called games for Joe B. Hall, Eddie Sutton and Rick Pitino, retiring following the 1992 season along with the outgoing senior class of "Unforgettables" - Richie Farmer, Sean Woods, Deron Feldhaus and John Pelphrey - the team that lost to Duke in overtime in the East Region finals.

He was named the top college basketball announcer in the nation on four occasions and broadcast the NCAA Final Four on a national radio network for 18 years, the most of any announcer in history.

Mr. Ledford received the ultimate honor, induction in the National Basketball Hall of Fame in 1994. He was the first person, other than a former player or coach, to have his jersey retired in Rupp Arena. He also owns the distinction of being the first person to be inducted into both the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame and the Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame.

In addition to his work with UK Athletics, Mr. Ledford covered minor league baseball, the World Series, the state basketball tournament, The Masters and the heavyweight boxing championship, including extensive coverage of former champion Muhammad Ali. Other highlights of his illustrious career include:

After leaving WHAS Radio in 1978, he founded Cawood Ledford Productions in Lexington. The company published "Cawood on the Cats," a weekly newspaper covering UK sports, and produced numerous radio and television shows. In addition to his broadcasting career, he authored eight books.