From La. to L.A.

Greg Ashlock always could handle it.

Whether as a point guard for the high-octane Dan Bell-coached Demon basketball team in 1989-90, or as a student who graduated as valedictorian with a perfect 4.0 grade point average in business, Ashlock had a smile and a plan.

He had grit. How else to describe somebody who sent letters asking for an opportunity, any kind of internship or job, to every pro sports franchise – NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL?

Greg got the standard polite rejections. He got a few telephone interviews. And he got a half-hearted reply from the Los Angeles Dodgers that helped change his life.

The Dodgers wrote telling him they only had a seasonal position in their marketing department available and he couldn’t afford to live in Los Angeles for the pittance it paid. He took it, drove with everything he owned to L.A., and found a loft in a Catholic church where he could stay for free if he kept up the lawn and gardens.

Long story made short, hard work once again paid off. He was hired full time by the Dodgers, he went to graduate school at USC, and now he’s emerged as one of the city’s major media players.

Last November, Ashlock topped the list of “Best Managers in Radio for Major Markets” for 2006 as compiled by “Radio Ink,” which bills itself as “Radio’s Premier Management and Marketing Magazine.”

He is in charge of Clear Channel Radio in Los Angeles. Among the personalities on the stations he oversees – Ryan Seacrest, host of a little TV show you might watch: American Idol.

Look for a profile of Greg in this summer’s Alumni Columns magazine.

Doug Ireland, SID