Lessons learned with '83 Pack championship team keep Olympics announcer on top of his game

When you watch the Winter Olympics on WRAL-TV, you may hear a voice that sounds familiar.

Terry Gannon, who played on the 1983 North Carolina State University national championship men's basketball team, is one of NBC’s main voices during the Summer and Winter Olympics.

His start in television came at WRAL.

During his playing days at NC State, he formed great relationships with folks in the media who encouraged him on his journey.

"I had absolutely no broadcast experience at all when I started in the business. I was going to be a coach. Guys like Jeff Gravley, Jay Jennings, so many were so helpful,” Gannon said.

He would send his tapes to WRAL-TV in hopes of feedback and for the chance to get on TV for $50.

"I went to WRAL and I said, ‘Hey, you’ve got this show called PM Magazine. Let me do a feature every week. If you don’t like it, don’t run it, don’t pay me,'" Gannon said.

Those early days paid off. Gannon has called nationally televised football games for ABC, figure skating and golf in addition to the Olympics.

Gannon attributes his athletic background to his ability to sound so natural and genuine in the announcer’s booth.

"I think it gives me a better understanding and a perspective when I call games, when I call golf tournaments or figure skating events, of what the athletes are going through," he said.

Former Wolfpack basketball player making voice heard in Olympics golf booth

In part, it was playing on the national championship team for coach Jim Valvano that Gannon says prepared him for the challenge of TV.

"Among the many things 1983 taught me is that it’s a long haul. It is a marathon, it’s not a sprint,” he said.

"The preparation for the Olympics from an announcer’s standpoint never stops. So it’s not like you start preparing a year out, six months out. It’s a four-year cycle every time around."

Playing for the Wolfpack, he also learned lessons about the pressure of a big stage and an international audience. Gannon was open in the final moments of the national championship game, and he was calling for the ball. Dereck Whittenburg didn’t pass it to Gannon. He elected to shoot instead, Lorenzo Charles was there to clean up the miss, and history was made.

"You never know until you’re in that position with 50 million people watching for the national championship on the last possession whether you actually do want the ball or whether you kind of hide a little bit. And all I can tell you is that I wanted the ball,” Gannon said.

He wanted the ball to begin his television career also. When he wasn’t the go-to guy for golf or the Olympics, he learned to say yes to every opportunity to get there, just the way that Valvano taught him.

“I got a call on a Monday morning from Jack O’Hara who is the executive producer for ABC. He said, ‘We need you to go to Tokyo next week and do a figure skating event.’

"I think it was because I played for a guy like Jim Valvano who was ready to take on every challenge in every aspect of life it evolved into things other than even sports. I was able to say yes and quickly try to figure out how to do it,” Gannon said.