University of North Carolina Athletics
Woody Durham To Retire As Voice Of The Tar Heels
April 19, 2011 | General
April 19, 2011
CHAPEL HILL -- Hall of Fame broadcaster Woody Durham is retiring after 40 years as the play-by-play Voice of the Tar Heels. Durham will make the official announcement tomorrow (Wednesday, April 20) at a 10 a.m. press conference at the Dean E. Smith Center on the campus of the University of North Carolina.
Durham has called play-by-play on more than 1,800 football and men's basketball broadcasts on the Tar Heel Sports Network since 1971.
A 1963 graduate of the University of North Carolina, Durham is a 13-time recipient of the North Carolina Sportscaster of the Year Award. He is a member of the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame, the North Carolina Broadcasters Hall of Fame, the Stanly County Sports Hall of Fame and the Mebane Sports Hall of Fame.
He has received a distinguished service medal from the UNC General Alumni Association for outstanding service to the University and the alumni association; the William R. Davie Award, given by the UNC Board of Trustees to recognize extraordinary service to the University; the Skeeter Francis Award for special service to the Atlantic Coast Conference; the Russell Blunt Legends Award from the North Carolina High School Athletic Association for being a true legend in athletics; the Lindsey Nelson Outstanding Sportscaster Award from the All-American Football Foundation; with his wife of 47 years, Jean, the Outstanding Service Award from the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center Board of Visitors; a Priceless Gem from UNC Athletics; and a Distinguished Service Award from the NCHSAA.
Durham was born in 1941 in Mebane and grew up in Albemarle. He was sports director at WUNC while attending Carolina, sports director at WFMY-TV in Greensboro from 1963-77 and at WPTF-TV in Raleigh from 1977-1981. Since 1981, he worked for the Tar Heel Sports Network with VilCom Inc. of Chapel Hill and Learfield Communications Inc. of Jefferson City, Mo.
Durham has called UNC games for six head coaches in football (Bill Dooley, Dick Crum, Mack Brown, Carl Torbush, John Bunting and Butch Davis) and four head coaches in men's basketball (Dean Smith, Bill Guthridge, Matt Doherty and Roy Williams) in addition to working with head coaches and assistant coaches from all of UNC's sports on Rams Club tours and as master of ceremonies at many other speaking engagements. He worked with directors of athletics Homer Rice, Bill Cobey, John Swofford and Dick Baddour.
Durham has called 23 Tar Heel football bowl games, 13 men's basketball Final Fours and six national championship games, including the NCAA title-winning seasons in 1982, 1993, 2005 and 2009.
His broadcast career spanned the collegiate playing days of football players such as Paul Miller, Mike Voight, Amos Lawrence, Kelvin Bryant, Lawrence Taylor, Harris Barton, Natrone Means, Jason Stanicek, Leon Johnson, Greg Ellis, Dre' Bly, Julius Peppers, Darian Durant, Hakeem Nicks and T.J. Yates. In basketball, Durham called games for 31 different Tar Heels whose jerseys hang in the Smith Center rafters, including National Players of the Year Phil Ford, James Worthy, Michael Jordan, Kenny Smith, Rasheed Wallace, Jerry Stackhouse, Antawn Jamison, Sean May and Tyler Hansbrough.
Durham broadcast Carolina football and basketball games with numerous color analysts and sideline reporters, including Jones Angell, Rick Steinbacher.
Spotters and statisticians who worked with Durham include Harold and Carroll Bowen, Whitney Smith, Eric Fiddleman, Jody Zeugner and Greg Tilley. Network engineers who worked with Durham include current engineer Ben Alexander, Rick Edwards, Jim and Patti Eddings, David Wright, Jerry Brown, David Modlin, Fred Pace, Paul Boone and John Rose.
Carolina fans are encouraged to email their favorite "Woody" calls and memories to: woodymemories@gmail.com. A selection of responses will be compiled and presented at TarHeelBlue.com.
Also, a number of Woody's greatest calls will be available at TarHeelBlue.com. beginning Wednesday.
Wednesday's press conference may be viewed online here.
Players Mentioned
