Woody Durham, who served as the radio play-by-play commentator for North Carolina athletics for 40 years, died Wednesday morning in Chapel Hill. He was 76 years old.
Durham fully retired in 2011, after he and his wife noticed a decline in his speech. In 2016, Durham, whose voice immortalized several Tar Heel basketball and football moments throughout his career, was diagnosed with progressive primary aphasia, a syndrome that slowly impairs neurological functions like speaking and reasoning.
“Our family is grateful for the incredible support my dad and our family received throughout his illness,” said Wes Durham, Woody’s son, in a statement from the University. “From the medical teams to the general public, it’s been amazing. We hold to and will always cherish the wonderful memories he left for our family and Carolina fans throughout the world.”
The former voice of the Tar Heels was elected to the National Sports Media Association Hall of Fame in January 2018. He'd won the North Carolina Sportscaster of the Year Award 13 times and called 23 UNC football bowl games, 13 men’s basketball Final Fours and six national championship games.
The Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association will honor Durham this week at the men's basketball ACC Tournament in Brooklyn.
In June he will be inducted into the National Sports Media Hall of Fame, alongside HBO’s Bryant Gumbel, Washington Post baseball columnist Thomas Boswell and Bluestar Media’s Dick Weiss, former national college basketball and football writer for the Philadelphia Daily News and the New York Daily News.
