ELON, N.C. – Wes Durham vividly remembers his dad's voice booming over the elementary school intercom system in the middle of class one day in March. Durham was not being summoned by the higher powers of his father for making trouble though. Strangely enough, his dad was not even at the school or speaking directly to him.
His father, the late, great Woody Durham, was instead across town at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex. What Durham, his classmates and teachers were hearing was his dad's radio broadcast of an ACC men's basketball tournament game, playing from a radio set into the intercom microphone in the principal's office.
"Some of my classmates were like, 'That's your dad?'" Durham said. "They went, 'What does he do?' Well, this is what he does."
Unbeknownst to a fifth-grade Durham, he would go on to work in the same industry and even the same conference as his father, broadcasting countless college and professional sporting events.
Chapel Thrill
Despite being just a room away from one of the higher-profile college sports broadcasters of the time, Durham – though he found his dad's work interesting – originally had no intention of pursuing the same career as his father.
Though he dreamt of playing professional basketball, Durham was forced to reexamine other possible career paths early on. Once he realized he might have already reached his "athletic ceiling" at 14 years old, Durham understood his playing days would likely come to an end after high school graduation.
Even though he accepted that his on-court aspirations might be over soon, Durham said he could not justify burying a love and passion that had burned deeply within him since his childhood.
"I still knew I wanted to be around sports," Durham said. "Even at 58, almost 59 years old, I can still remember connecting with teams and players of college football and basketball teams as a kid."
At the time, his dad was the voice of the North Carolina Tar Heels, working as the radio play-by-play broadcaster for the UNC football and men's basketball programs. Durham shared the revelation with his father that although pro basketball might not be in his future, he was still interested in a career in sports, perhaps even one in broadcasting.
"I didn't really know what he did, but I saw what he did to get ready to do it, and I thought I was interested in it," Durham said. "My dad said, 'Well if you've got an interest in it, then what we need to do is show you behind the curtain.'"
Following their interaction, his dad suggested that he shadow him during his football broadcasts that upcoming season in Chapel Hill. Because Durham had only seen his dad's at-home preparation, he explained that the in-game execution was still a foreign concept to him.
"I saw the media guides, the charts, the boards, all the pens, all the colors, all the things like that, and I thought, 'Sure, you get ready for the game, but what is all this?'" Durham said.
After joining his father in the booth for several UNC home football games that fall, Durham was instantly captivated by his dad's rousing broadcasts.
"I fell in love with it immediately; the experience of being in there watching the game and seeing how all the operational pieces work," Durham said.
Once he witnessed his father's craft live in Chapel Hill, it would forever drive Durham to pursue the thrill of working in sports.
"That led to the adrenaline of being a part of it. That is really where it was born," Durham said. "Since then, it's been like a singular focus to be part of the industry."
Gallery: (11-8-2024) Rising Phoenix: Wes Durham
All About The Reps
Despite his father having college athletics connections in every corner of the country, Durham did not attempt to leverage nepotism to go to a larger, renowned sports broadcasting school. Though he could have fallen back on his dad's network, Durham said his mediocre academic marks throughout his teens meant his options for college were limited.
"My high school grades were a mess," Durham laughed.
To this day, Durham's 25-year-old twins still bemoan whenever he reminisces about his poor standing during his adolescent years.
"My kids give me so much grief," Durham said. "They are absolutely horrified, they go, 'No, no, do not have my dad tell you his high school story.'"
During the summer between his junior and senior year of high school, Durham and his mom visited Elon College, just about 20 minutes from his dad's hometown of Mebane. After meeting with the dean of admissions, Durham found that the small school had the perfect opportunity for him to have some much-needed structure.
"At the time, Elon had the Academic Development Program, where they would let students in who struggled in high school and put them on academic probation for the first semester and your entire freshman year," Durham said.
Though Durham said he connected with the experienced professors and small classroom size, the main selling point of the school was the possible broadcasting opportunities through the student radio station, WSOE 89.3.
Durham had on-air experience coming into college, having spent high school summers working as a promotions intern at a radio station. Although he was interested in being a disk jockey and working in morning radio, he said the experiences helped him realize he was more interested in pursuing a career in sports broadcasting.
Before he enrolled, Elon transitioned away from having local radio stations broadcast sporting events and handed over the reins to the students at WSOE.
When he started his freshman year, Durham inquired to faculty and students about helping out with the WSOE broadcasts. After chatting with a communications professor who served as an advisor to the radio station, the freshman successfully had a foot in the sports broadcasting door.
Once the school invested in a significant power upgrade for the student radio station, Durham said that WSOE – though in the early stages – was well-positioned to broadcast Elon athletics events.
"The campus station probably had just had an increase to 500 watts from a BIC lighter," Durham laughed.
At the beginning of his Elon career, Durham mostly did pregame, halftime and postgame segments. However, the aspiring broadcaster was determined to build out his "resume tape," a short video or audio package that showcased his sportscasting experience, in whatever way he could.
In an effort to build out his tape, Durham attended the NAIA South Atlantic Conference's football media day – Elon's conference until 1996 – to record interviews with SAC players and coaches. In addition to helping him assemble tape for a reel, Durham said he was able to create interesting programming for WSOE beyond just live broadcasts.
"We wanted to figure out a way to make it sound bigger than just a local broadcast," Durham said. "We found ways to keep driving it forward."
Durham steadily earned more opportunities to do play-by-play and color commentary for Elon football, men's basketball and baseball. He said having more chances to fail early on provided him with the repetitions he needed to succeed.
"There was a lot of bad tape in there, but nobody told you that you couldn't do it," Durham said. "I was brutal as a freshman and sophomore. I mean, I was bad, but I got chances as a junior and senior to bear down and refine preparation."
Durham explained that at the time, his alma mater's broadcasting program did not have the same reputation as schools like Arizona State, Missouri, Northwestern or Syracuse. However, because Elon's program had just started, Durham said he was afforded far more opportunities than he would have received elsewhere. By the time he graduated in 1988, the Greensboro native had broadcasted 150 games for the Fighting Christians.
"The 150 at Elon was my secret sauce," Durham said.
"If I went to a bigger school, how many games am I going to do?" Durham added. "Am I going to get to do 150 games? Not likely."
In addition to his radio calls for Elon, Durham got his first taste of working in television, an industry that he would enter many years down the line. Under the guidance of a faculty advisor, Durham and other students ran three-camera productions of Elon baseball games, which played as replays on the campus cable channel. Durham said the replay baseball broadcasts helped lay the groundwork for what eventually became Elon Sports Vision.
Though his process was "messy" at first, Durham said the reps in college allowed him to perfect his preparation regimen to a tee before graduating, and to this day, he still uses some of the same strategies he used at Elon.
"That core element of preparation has not changed dynamically at all," Durham said.
Durham explained that his four years of experience in college provided him with a pivotal foundation that set him up for great success in the profession he desired.
"One of the most important things that happened in my career was being able to go to school at Elon," Durham said. "It's just that simple for me."
Trusted Voice
Fame and notoriety did not come overnight for Durham. To earn a shot with a big school, he spent his early years out of college working as the voice of Radford, Marshall and Vanderbilt athletics, learning how to perfect his craft even amidst losing seasons.
"You become responsible for not only the good, but you also become responsible for the bad," Durham said.
"Everything is not always going to be wine and roses in this deal," he added.
Durham recalled a line that his father somewhat jokingly would tell him.
"My dad always said, 'Nobody ever remembers a call from a game you got the [heck] beat out of you. They only remember calls from games you win,'" Durham said.
Although he said his father's quip might hold true, Durham explained that even during the most lopsided losses or tumultuous seasons, every sportscaster has the responsibility to uphold the integrity of the broadcast and be a "trusted voice," whether it be for the fan, viewer, listener, school, institution or network.
"You're responsible for the quality of a broadcast when you're winning or losing," Durham said. "I think you have to take that seriously."
"Our responsibility and our functionality as broadcasters, whether it's for a network or a team, we have to be responsible stewards, if you will, of the craft," he added.
Though Durham's position with an institution makes him an ambassador of sorts, his employment does not equate to blind loyalty to a coach or their decision-making. However, his inclination is not to be hyper-critical either, often leads to listeners who lack attentiveness criticizing his broadcasts.
"I had fans question me sometimes when they didn't have a great year in basketball saying, 'Why aren't you talking about how bad the coaching is?'" Durham said. "If they listened, they might have heard me say, 'Well, that's a tough decision right there. You're going to foul here? You're going to put an 88% free throw shooter on the line down three points with four seconds left?'"
Durham learned to accept that no matter who his audience was, his cynics would never go away.
"Someone's always going to think you're against their team," Durham said. "There may be somebody who's not even affiliated with a team that doesn't like the way you said something on the air."
To uphold his responsibility as a trusted voice, Durham has always tried to find a way to make his broadcasts interesting for all listeners, no matter how tough the year was for the team he was working for.
While working for Marshall during the 1991-92 season, when the Thundering Herd men's basketball program finished with a 7-22 record. By the end of the season, one of his favorite stats was that a Marshall player had fouled out of 16 of 29 games, setting an NCAA Division I record.
Durham recalled the 1993 Vanderbilt football season as one of his "tough, long years." The Commodores lost its last two games to No. 8 Florida 52-0 and No. 6 Tennessee 62-14, meaning Vanderbilt's 4-7 season was capped off by being outscored 114-14 in its final two games.
"People say, 'Have you had hard years?'" Durham said. "Yeah, I've had some hard years."
Durham's love and passion to broadcast games at the highest level always remained intact, even during down years. Eventually, he would find his way into the conference he grew up in and has become a staple piece of its greater lore ever since.
Durham Went Down to Georgia
After seven years of climbing the ranks of college athletics radio, Durham was hired by Georgia Tech, an ACC school, in 1995 for football and men's basketball broadcasts. The Yellow Jackets had many successful seasons – highlighted by reaching the NCAA men's basketball national championship against UConn in 2004 – allowing Durham to broadcast some incredible moments in his 18 seasons with Georgia Tech.
Although Durham was able to make more exhilarating calls at Georgia Tech than his previous stops due to a higher level of play and competition, he still conducted his craft similarly to how he always had. He explained that a staple part of his success is broadcasting games as though he is vicariously experiencing what his viewers are feeling.
"You're channeling what you think the fan of the team you're broadcasting for feels," Durham said. "And if you do that the right way, you're going to have a very fortunate and very blessed career.
"I'm trying to be like the fan who's dialed into the game, who's like, 'Man, that was an unbelievable play,'" Durham added.
He emphasized that no matter how much preparation a broadcaster does, letting the moment come naturally is the ultimate key to a great call.
"If you think about what you're going to say, there's going to be part of it that sounds scripted, if you think, 'Well, I've got this call in my head, and I'm going to say 'this' if there's a last-second shot,'" Durham said.
Durham said if he stays in the moment, emulates the flow of the game and considers where the viewer is looking, a successful and entertaining call usually ensues.
"If you follow the game, like the movement of the football: 'And he's wide open! Oh my gosh! And he's gonna score!' That should be enough," Durham said. "Then you haven't scripted anything and you haven't put anything in your mind."
As Durham continued to prove himself and hone his craft at Georgia Tech, an opportunity in NFL radio emerged in the fall of 2004. However, there was no need for him to choose between the two and step down from his post with the Yellow Jackets, making it an easy decision for him when he joined the Atlanta Falcons broadcast crew, a position he still holds.
Honoring Woody
Though he has always had a passion for college basketball and football, Durham never had quite the same affinity toward professional football. Now in his 20th season with the Falcons, Durham said one of the main reasons he has continued to work with the NFL is because of his father.
"He gave me the inspiration to do this," Durham said.
Durham recalled a conversation with his wife in the summer of 2010 when she asked him about what his long-term ambitions were in Atlanta.
"[My wife] asked me, 'Do you have a goal doing the Falcons?'" Durham said. "I said, 'Well I'd really like to do a Super Bowl. I don't know if it'll ever happen, but I'd like to.'"
With his dad being the most significant influence on why he pursued a career in sportscasting, Durham explained that because his father never had the chance to broadcast pro football, he wanted to pay homage to him in any way that he could on one of the biggest broadcasting platforms possible.
"Part of the reason I wanted to do a Super Bowl was that I wanted to, in some small way, put my dad's work on this stage," Durham said.
Seven years following that conversation with his wife, Durham had the opportunity to broadcast Super Bowl LI between the Falcons and New England Patriots in February 2017.
Though his dad passed away a year later in March 2018 from Primary Progressive Aphasia, Durham said having his father be able to hear his Super Bowl call meant everything to him.
"I'm hopeful that he understood what I was trying to do by showcasing his skill and his career even in just a small fraction on that broadcast," Durham said.
"I remembered a lot of things my dad had told me growing up during that broadcast," he added.
Following Durham's stint from 1995 to 2013 at Georgia Tech, he then moved into network television for Raycom Sports' ACC broadcasts from 2013-19. When ESPN launched the ACC Network in 2019, Durham was promptly brought on by the conference network and has been employed there ever since.
His father broadcasted Carolina games beginning as a freshman at Chapel Hill in 1959 until he graduated in 1963. After Woody called ACC sports for a local station in South Carolina, he made his return to UNC in 1971 and worked as the voice of the Tar Heels until 2011.
As a result, with the ACC being founded in 1953, the conference has only been Durham-less for a mere six years, meaning that a Durham has been on the call for 65 of the 72 seasons that ACC basketball and football has been around.
As a kid, Durham worked as a ballboy for several ACC men's basketball tournaments in the early 1980s. With the event still regularly hosted in his hometown of Greensboro, Durham said being a small part of the tournament early on by nature of his father calling UNC games has made the event the one he will always hold closest to his heart.
"At the end, the ACC tournament kind of speaks to my life, it's my emotion, it's the way I grew up," Durham said. "And it's still my favorite event to do. It's not even close."
I Never Think That I Made It
Despite being a staple figure entrenched in the storytelling and sportscasting lore of ACC basketball, football and the NFL, Durham has never lost sight of what has brought him this far in the industry.
"I don't ever think that I made it," Durham said. "Then you lose the competitive edge that this industry is."
No matter the level of play of the team, Durham emphasized the importance of always running a top-tier broadcast.
"It's the game that I get to do, so I want to do it at the highest possible level that I can," Durham said.
Although Durham will admittedly allow his charisma to shine through occasionally, he explained that he tries to never let his personality get in the way of a broadcast viewing or listening experience, as he feels it would be a disservice to the fans tuning in.
"You're there to do the game, and you're there to broadcast the game," Durham said. "Nobody cares where you ate dinner, nobody cares that you played nine holes of golf.
"Make it count for the person watching the game," he added.
Even with Durham's impressive resume, ranging from calling historic moments like Villanova's buzzer-beater over UNC to win the 2016 men's basketball national championship and the largest comeback in Super Bowl history by the Patriots against his Falcons, he refuses to allow himself to become lackadaisical even though he is a seasoned veteran now 40 years deep in the industry.
"You want to make sure that you're still bringing the broadcast to the level that you've done it at for years," Durham said.
Family Ties of Institutional Pride
On Monday, Nov. 4, Durham worked as a broadcaster for ESPN's ACC Network during the Elon-UNC men's basketball game at the Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill.
The tilt between the Tar Heels and the Phoenix meant Durham had the opportunity to broadcast an Elon game, which he joked has been a rare occurrence since graduating.
"At least I know I'm going to see Elon play at least once this year, right?" Durham laughed.
His brother, Taylor Durham, graduated from Elon in 1996 and returned in 2011 to work as the radio voice of the Phoenix and the manager of business development. The matchup meant the siblings had a unique opportunity to simultaneously call a game for their alma mater.
With his father's 40 years as the voice of the Tar Heels, in addition to UNC being where his dad went to undergrad, Durham explained that there was a sentimental feeling unlike anything else that made the Monday night matchup "uniquely different."
"When it's Carolina and it's Elon, it's the two institutions that basically have constructed my life," Durham said. "Carolina is the place I grew up around because of my dad and Elon is the place where I went to school, and it's where my brother went to school and still works. For us, these are the two most important institutions in our family."
Photo: Aidan Blake/Rising Phoenix
Before the game, the brothers took a picture together in the Woody Durham Media & Communications Center, which is adjacent to the Smith Center. The sibling duo stood in front of a mural highlighting their father's signature phrase, "Go where you go, and do what you do," written on the wall.
Photo: Courtesy of Wes Durham
Although the school changed from the Elon College Fighting Christians to the Elon University Phoenix in the 36 years since he graduated, it is clear Durham still has a strong loyalty to his alma mater, even almost four decades removed from campus.
"It's always fun to be able to show support for where you went to school," Durham said. "And with Elon, there's a sense of pride about it."
Durham said that because so many different people have been nice to him throughout his career, he always tries to help out anyone he can, even if it means just a short conversation.
"I think this is a pay-it-forward business," Durham said.
With the many connections he has established in his various stops throughout college athletics and the NFL, Durham said he feels well-equipped to continue to pay it forward to the institution that did so much for him.
"One of the reasons I'm trying to stay close to Elon is to see where I can help," Durham said. "Because of the connections and the network that I have, I might be able to support what not only the university wants to do, but in particular, what athletics wants to do."
'Rising Phoenix' is a student-led initiative to cover Elon Athletics. Through innovative content creation and storytelling, Elon University students will have the opportunity to highlight the moments, people and events that make an impact, leveraging the athletic department's various web and social media platforms for distribution. Follow Rising Phoenix on X (@EURisingPhoenix) and Instagram (@elonrisingphoenix). Interested in joining this initiative as a content creator (video, graphics, writing, storytelling, or more)? Contact Chase Strawser at cstrawser@elon.edu.
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