DEAN BLEVINS chosen as new KWTV sports director

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Sports analyst Dean Blevins has agreed to a five-year contract to become sports director at KWTV NEWS 9 in Oklahoma City. <br><br>Blevins had been providing commentary on the 10 p.m.

Tuesday, June 19th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Sports analyst Dean Blevins has agreed to a five-year contract to become sports director at KWTV NEWS 9 in Oklahoma City.

Blevins had been providing commentary on the 10 p.m. Wednesday and Sunday sportscasts, but will now become the station's primary evening sports anchor.

Blevins, 45, also will serve as sports analyst for all Griffin Communications' stations, including Tulsa's KOTV-6 and News Now 53 cable channels in Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

``We felt that we could not fill Bill's shoes and continue to do sports the same way,'' said David Griffin, who is president of Griffin Communications. ``Dean will do a lot of statewide stuff, a lot with our sister station, KOTV, to do sports totally different than the competition.''

Teegins, who also was the radio voice of the Oklahoma State University football and basketball teams, was killed with nine others associated with the OSU basketball program in a plane crash Jan. 27 in Colorado.

``I really struggled with this for several months now and didn't intend to do it until recently,'' Blevins said. ``I think a large part of that was Bill's death.''

Blevins said he has enjoyed being a freelance sportscaster but now looked forward to the stability of the new position.

``As you get older, it hits you that a regular routine with family is something that is vital,'' he said.

Blevins likely will scale back on commercial and radio work in Oklahoma City. He'll still be a network college football analyst and said he has received an offer to broadcast 10 games for ESPN.

Blevins signed a contract with CBS last year as the network's No. 2 analyst but was dropped when CBS lost the rights to Big East games.

A former University of Oklahoma quarterback who played on the 1974 and '75 national championship teams, Blevins also was sports director of KOCO-TV for seven years in which he won a Heartland Regional Emmy Award for best sportscast.

He also was voted Oklahoma Sportscaster of the Year three times.