Per Duke Sports Information:
DURHAM, N.C. – Duke Athletics will commemorate the Hall of Fame broadcasting career of Bob Harris by hosting Bob Harris Night at Cameron Indoor Stadium when the Blue Devils host Georgia Tech on Wednesday, January 4, 2017.
Harris is in his 41st and final year as the Voice of the Blue Devils after announcing his retirement from the post this past July 5.
“Hosting Bob Harris Night in January is an appropriate way to thank Bob and his family publicly for all of their many contributions to Duke Athletics, and specifically Duke Basketball, over the past four decades,” said Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski. “Certainly, Bob has earned an enormous amount of respect as the longest tenured broadcaster in the history of the Atlantic Coast Conference. More importantly, he’s earned the trust of Duke fans around the world listening to his broadcasts. He is a Duke treasure, and we’re all fortunate to have played a part in the Duke story that Bob has told so eloquently over the years.”
“It has been an amazing 41-year run for Bob Harris as the ‘Voice of the Blue Devils,'” said Duke University Vice President and Director of Athletics Kevin White. “Certainly, we are thrilled that we can honor Bob in front of Duke fans who’ve listened intently to the ongoing narrative of the Blue Devils – as told by one of the truly unique voices in college athletics – for over four decades. Bob’s contributions to Duke Athletics are countless. His permanent legacy will be the many wonderful memories he has helped share, and create, for Duke fans around the world.”
A three-time recipient of the North Carolina Broadcaster of the Year honor from the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association in 1988, 1991 and 2011, Harris has called 1,366 Duke basketball games including Saturday’s 94-45 win over UNLV. His tenure with the Blue Devils has featured 13 NCAA Final Four events while calling 10 championship games including all five of Duke’s national titles in 1991 (Indianapolis), 1992 (Minneapolis), 2001 (Minneapolis), 2010 (Indianapolis) and 2015 (Indianapolis). Harris also has broadcast 16 ACC Tournament championship game victories for the Blue Devils in 1978, 1980, 1986, 1988, 1992, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010 and 2011.
Harris closed his football broadcasting tenure at Duke having called 471 consecutive games. The streak began on September 11, 1976, with Duke’s season-opener at Tennessee and concluded on November 26, 2016, with the season finale at Miami. He called six postseason bowl games (1989 All American, 1994 Hall of Fame, 2012 Belk, 2013 Chick-fil-A, 2014 Hyundai Sun & 2015 Pinstripe) along with Duke’s appearances in the Coca Cola Bowl against Clemson on November 30, 1991, in Tokyo, Japan, and the Dr Pepper ACC Championship Game versus Florida State on December 7, 2013, in Charlotte, N.C.
A native of Albemarle, N.C., Harris will retire as the longest-tenured play-by-play announcer in the history of the Atlantic Coast Conference. He is a member of the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame (inducted in 2006) and the Stanly County Sports Hall of Fame (1993). In 2009, Harris was honored with the Atlantic Coast Conference’s prestigious Skeeter Francis Award, an honor presented annually to individuals for distinguished service to the league. In 2016, Harris received The Order of the Long Leaf Pine, an honor conferred by the Governor of North Carolina for exemplary service to the State of North Carolina and its communities.
