Who Is Bob Harris? Former Duke Men’s Basketball Radio Broadcaster Who Passed Away Wednesday Following Battle With Alzheimer's

Who is Bob Harris?

Former Duke Men’s Basketball radio broadcaster who passed Wednesday following battle with Alzheimer’s

Bob Harris was known for the saying How Sweet It Is when broadcasting games on the radio!

Bob Harris was a 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 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. 
 
Harris broadcast a total of 1,392 Duke basketball games and his tenure with the Blue Devils 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 broadcasted 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, 2011 and 2017.
 
"Duke lost another one of its greatest treasures with the passing of Bob Harris," said former Duke head basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski. "For decades as our radio play-by-play broadcaster, Bob told the story of Duke Athletics better than anyone. He was much more than an announcer to all of us. He was a family member who absolutely loved Duke and everything it stands for. We are so thankful that it was his voice that shared our journey each season with so many Duke fans around the world. He was adored by so many of them. The Krzyzewski family offers our deepest condolences to Phyllis and their loved ones. It was my honor to call Bob my friend."
 
A native of Albemarle, N.C., Harris retired as the longest-tenured play-by-play announcer in the history of the Atlantic Coast Conference. He earned enshrinement into the Duke Athletics Hall of Fame (inducted in 2018), North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame (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.

Bob Harris was born August 22, 1942!

Bob Harris got his start in broadcasting n broadcasting in 1967 as the Sports Director at WZKY in his hometown, and later served as the Sports Director at WDNC in Durham from 1975-97.

Bob Harris retired as Duke play by broadcaster for basketball in 2017.

Following Bob Harris retiring in 2017 he was replaced by David Shumate as play by play voice for Duke Men’s Basketball.

David Shumate was named the Director of Broadcasting for the Blue Devil IMG Sports Network in June, 2017.

Prior to moving to Durham, Shumate spent the previous five years as IMG's Director of Audio Operations. His broadcasting experience includes play-by-play duties for the Mid-American Conference championship football game (2010-16), SEC Men's Basketball Tournament (2011-17) and SEC Baseball Tournament (2013-17). Shumate also handled basketball play-by-play responsibilities for Auburn, Connecticut, Duke, Oregon, Pittsburgh, Vanderbilt, Washington and West Virginia between 2011-17.

David Shumate is native North Carolinian, David Shumate graduated from Appalachian State University in 2006 with a bachelor of science degree in communication with a concentration in electric media and broadcasting.
 According to https://goduke.com/staff-directory/david-shumate/522

Following Bob Harris passing away Wednesday following his battle with Alzheimer’s I reached out to David Shumate who replaced Bob Harris as the voice of Duke basketball and asked him these questions. When you think of Bob Harris who did play by play  for Duke Football for 41 years, what do you think of? 

When you learned you were the person replacing Bob Harris as the voice of Blue Devils for Men's Basketball what was   your initial thought, reaction?

“Bob was a gifted broadcaster who could bring the listener to the venue with him and make you feel like you were watching the game sitting right next to him.  His passion for Duke was evident in his work, as was his professionalism – his call of a game was in many ways a reflection of who he was as a person - kind, thoughtful and welcoming to everyone he met.”