Greg Gurley to Take Over Kansas Men's Basketball Radio Network Analyst Duties
July 19, 2012
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Former Kansas guard Greg Gurley will take over the radio analyst duties for KU men’s basketball starting in the 2012-13 season, Jayhawk IMG Sports Network General Manager Jason Booker announced Thursday.
Gurley replaces former Jayhawk Chris Piper, who has been the radio analyst since the 2006-07 season. Piper replaced KU legend Max Falkenstien, who worked on the KU radio network for 60 years prior to retiring following the 2005-06 season. Gurley will work with Bob Davis (play-by-play) and Bob Newton (engineer) on the Jayhawk IMG Radio Network.
Piper will replace Gurley as analyst on the KU games televised on the Jayhawk IMG Television Network, which annually carries the approximately half-dozen KU games not aired by a national network. He will work alongside play-by-play TV announcer Dave Armstrong, who started calling Jayhawk basketball in 1991.
“I’d like to thank the Jayhawk IMG Radio Network and the University of Kansas for giving me the unbelievable opportunity to work on the radio broadcasts of the men’s basketball games,” Piper said. “It has been a tremendous honor to work with Bob Davis and the best coach in the country, Bill Self. My family has always been my first priority, and as my children get older, I find it harder and harder to be gone so much during the season. In addition, my business continues to enjoy tremendous success, which requires even more of my time. Because of these factors I’ve had to make the extremely hard decision to pull back from the radio broadcast team at this time.”
“This is a natural switch,” Kansas head coach Bill Self said. “Greg has great experience and knows our program just like Chris does, and Pipe will be able to stay active with the television broadcasts and have more time for his family and work.”
A native of Leawood, Kan., Gurley has worked the past five seasons as the analyst for KU men’s basketball games on the Jayhawk IMG Television Network. For 10 years he has served as an analyst for the 6 News Lawrence rebroadcasts of Kansas men’s basketball games. Gurley also spent more than 10 years as a college basketball studio analyst for Metro Sports in Kansas City, Mo.
“I’m looking forward to this opportunity,” Gurley said. “Not many have sat in that chair when you talk 60 years of Max and the seven seasons Chris was there. Working with a legendary broadcaster like Bob Davis will be an honor. He is the best in the business.”
Gurley was a four-year letterwinner at KU from 1992-95 and was part of three Big Eight Conference titles. In his sophomore season, 1993, KU went to the Final Four. Gurley joined Kansas Athletics in the summer of 2011 as the Director of Development for the Williams Education Fund.
Also a four-year letterwinner at Kansas, Piper played on the Jayhawks’ 1988 National Championship and 1986 Final Four teams. He served as an analyst for Jayhawk Television Network broadcasts for 14 years and for ESPN-Plus Big 12 telecasts for six years. Piper is an owner of Grandstand Sportswear and Glassware in Lawrence, which produces licensed collegiate merchandise.
Davis, a 13-time Kansas Sportscaster of the Year and KAB Hall of Fame member, will be entering his 29th season calling Kansas athletics – football and men’s basketball. Newton is entering his 27th season with the Jayhawk IMG Radio Network.
The Jayhawk IMG Radio Network is part of IMG College Audio, the nation’s largest independent sports radio network producing nearly 30,000 hours of intercollegiate sports programming each year.
