Hahn's exit another part of Tobacco Road's lost grip on the ACC

By Ryan Bisesi, WRAL multiplatform producer

Raleigh, N.C. — The college sports landscape is evolving, with some change coming so swiftly, it's hard to keep track of all the comings and goings. Between TV networks, conference realignment, NIL dynamics and year-to-year roster turnover, some of the traditions of personalities, leagues and rivalries have weakened.

In Raleigh, NC State fans have taken comfort in the familiar voice of radio announcer Gary Hahn.

Hahn, 71, is going through his own transition. He recently lost his mother and is planning to retire after the 2023-24 basketball season.

Hahn arrived in Raleigh in 1990 and is one of the last men standing from the golden age of the ACC – when a Tuesday night basketball game in January was still one of the main vessels for entertainment in the area. In 2024, some Triangle fans feel left out by a league that's no longer centered around North Carolina and expanding to the far reaches of the west coast, thus deprecating the "Tobacco Road" brand that bolstered the formerly basketball-driven conference.

Hahn's exit is a small part of the vast changes taking place in sports media and in the college game overall.

Hahn has called more than 420 football games (missing one in 2009 after undergoing surgery for prostate cancer) and more than 1,000 basketball games in 34 years behind the mic. His association with State is as strong as Bob Harris was with Duke and the late Woody Durham with UNC-Chapel Hill. Harris retired in 2017 and Durham died a year later.

Hahn will call his final regular season home basketball game for the Wolfpack Monday night against Duke. He announced his retirement in October and called his last football game in December.

Hahn spoke with WRAL News about where college sports is going, his retirement plans and favorite NC State players he's covered.

Q: Have you had much time to reflect on how this is it?

A: I haven't really spent a lot of time thinking about it because I've had so many other things going on. It may hit me when it's all over. I think it's been a good run – 34 years in one place. That's a blessing. The Lord opened up some incredible doors for me to come here 34 years ago, and he's protected me while I'm here.

Q: What do you make of all the changes around college sports like conference realignment, NIL and TV network deals that's making it a new experience for the fans?

A: Growing up in Cumberland, Maryland, we had cable TV and because of that, I was able to get the ACC Game of the Week in 1963 with Bones McKinney and Jim Thacker. I started watching that and immediately, I was hooked. I really thought this was exciting stuff, and I liked to play basketball. So I got a taste of what the ACC was even before I had any inkling I'd be part of it. There's been a golden age, and I think what started the process of maybe getting away from that was conference expansion and conference realignment. When there were just eight or nine teams, everybody played everybody twice, you knew you were going to have tough games at certain places. You knew you were going to have to have a decent non-conference schedule, but even if you didn't have one of those, you could make it up by playing ACC basketball. It used to be that if you had an even record in the ACC, you had a good chance at making the NCAA Tournament. All that's different now.

You can't get away from change. It's gonna happen, but I think the changes now that are happening in college athletics, I don't know how they're going to come out, but I'm not in favor of quite a few of them, and I'll just leave it at that.

Q: Who are your favorite three Wolfpack football and basketball players since you've been in Raleigh?

A: I think one of my favorite football players was a guy who played in the early 90s at quarterback and then wide receiver. His name was Charles Davenport. He was a cool guy to be around. When you interviewed him, you got it right from the heart. He just cut loose, and he was very good and very jovial, a people person.

I really liked Torry Holt. He was the first guy there, he was the last one to leave. He was just a great guy – friendly, outgoing – I'd have to say I liked Torry Holt a lot.

Dantonio Burnette, who's the strength coach now, he was sort of the same way. He just told you the way it was and was very friendly and outgoing. I always liked him.

I'm probably leaving some out, because there's been a lot of nice guys who have played football at NC State who were very cooperative, friendly and outgoing and weren't scared of the media. They knew I was there not to kick them in the butt, but to usually give them a positive spin on things. These guys don't try to fail. They don't try to fumble the football. They don't try to throw an interception. They're trying their best. A lot of fans, I think, lose sight of that.

Basketball-wise, Todd Fuller would be one from the mid-90s. The thing about Todd is he was a perfect student. He never got a B. It was absolutely incredible. With the time limits that are put on these guys, he was just brilliant. I admired him a lot.

When I first got here, there was Chris Corchiani and Rodney Monroe. Rodney was a little more reserved. Chris was a little more outgoing but I certainly liked them.

Tom Gugliotta was another basketball player that was sort of reserved, but as I was there longer and he got better, we hit it off really good.

The nicest person I have ever met in college athletics is Mike O'Cain. I just talked to him this morning. He found out that my mom passed away and he gave me a call at the house. That's the kind of person Mike O'Cain is.

Q: You called games for Louisville and Ohio State, which are big programs with supportive fan bases, before coming to Raleigh. Did you know what you were in for when you came here in 1990 as far as a college sports-driven environment?

A: If you go to the state of Kentucky, there's a lot of Louisville fans and a lot of Kentucky fans, and it matters there, too. If you go to Ohio, Ohio State-Michigan is a big deal along with the rivalries they have in the Big Ten. I had a pretty good idea of what a rivalry was when I came here. I was just looking forward to ACC basketball. Everywhere else I'd been, everybody knew ACC basketball was at a very high level. Even at Louisville, the fans, I won't say envy, but they knew that the ACC was up there and maybe the Metro Conference wasn't quite as high. So if they played an ACC team and were able to beat them, it was a big deal. I knew ACC basketball was something special.

Q: You had a misstep during the 2022 Duke's Mayo Bowl broadcast that led to a suspension. Was there a moment where you thought you'd lose your job from the reaction? Was there self-reflection from that?

A: All I was trying to do was make some irreverent humor, but that's about all I'm going to say about it, because I've been told not to comment. But I did learn one thing.

I can remember going back from the game and everyone's deadly quiet in the car, no one wants to say anything. My phone's blowing up with all this stuff. I just said 'guys, you can talk. I've made a decision. I'm gonna let Jesus Christ fight my battle for me and whatever the outcome is, that's going to be his will. And I'm cool with that.' I found out the next couple of weeks that 90 percent of people out there love me. Ten percent hate my guts. The 10 percent called me every name in the book and 90 percent love me. That was the biggest thing I learned from that. I never knew how people felt about me. I knew they must have accepted me because I'm still there for, at that point, 33 years. But I never really thought of how they felt about me as a person and how I represented the university and all of that. It turned out that something that most people would think is a terrible, embarrassing moment actually, to me, turned out to be a blessing.

Q: What's been some consistent traits you've tried to bring to each broadcast?

A: The key is to be able to do a good job when the game is not good. I've always tried to do that, stick with the facts and paint a picture with the audience that, if they could just close their eyes, they'd have some idea of what was going on. That's tough to do on radio and a lot of people can't do it. I think I've been able to, by the grace of God, do that.

Q: Will you still follow NC State sports as closely in retirement?

A: I think I'll still be a Wolfpack fan. I'll care. I don't think you can be someplace for 34 years and know all the people that I've known and all the players that have come through and all that and not have some affinity. You just can't turn your back on something like that. But for the next two years, I've got a lot to do. I don't think I'll be playing in a lot of charity golf tournaments.