Here's a copy-and-pasted release from Duke:
DURHAM, N.C. – Duke Athletics Hall of Fame broadcaster Bob Harris passed away on Wednesday at the age of 81.
Harris served 41 years as the radio play-by-play broadcaster for Duke football and men’s basketball before retiring in 2017.
“We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Bob Harris,” said Duke Vice President & Director of Athletics Nina King. “We send our heartfelt condolences to Phyllis and the entire Harris family. Duke, the Atlantic Coast Conference and the entire collegiate athletics community has lost a true icon. For over four decades, Bob represented Duke with the utmost professionalism while delivering to our fans worldwide an acute account of Blue Devil football and men’s basketball games. He will be greatly missed, but his legacy will live forever.”
A three-time recipient of the North Carolina Broadcaster of the Year honor from the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association in 1988, 1991 and 2011, Harris closed his football broadcasting tenure at Duke having called 471 consecutive games. The streak began on September 11, 1976, with Duke’s season-opener at Tennessee and concluded on November 26, 2016, with the season finale at Miami. He called six postseason bowl games (1989 All American, 1994 Hall of Fame, 2012 Belk, 2013 Chick-fil-A, 2014 Hyundai Sun & 2015 Pinstripe) along with Duke’s appearances in the Coca Cola Bowl against Clemson on November 30, 1991, in Tokyo, Japan, and the Dr Pepper ACC Championship Game versus Florida State on December 7, 2013, in Charlotte, N.C.
Harris broadcast a total of 1,392 Duke basketball games and his tenure with the Blue Devils featured 13 NCAA Final Four events while calling 10 championship games including all five of Duke’s national titles in 1991 (Indianapolis), 1992 (Minneapolis), 2001 (Minneapolis), 2010 (Indianapolis) and 2015 (Indianapolis). Harris also broadcasted 16 ACC Tournament championship game victories for the Blue Devils in 1978, 1980, 1986, 1988, 1992, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2017.
“Duke lost another one of its greatest treasures with the passing of Bob Harris,” said former Duke head basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski. “For decades as our radio play-by-play broadcaster, Bob told the story of Duke Athletics better than anyone. He was much more than an announcer to all of us. He was a family member who absolutely loved Duke and everything it stands for. We are so thankful that it was his voice that shared our journey each season with so many Duke fans around the world. He was adored by so many of them. The Krzyzewski family offers our deepest condolences to Phyllis and their loved ones. It was my honor to call Bob my friend.”
A native of Albemarle, N.C., Harris retired as the longest-tenured play-by-play announcer in the history of the Atlantic Coast Conference. He earned enshrinement into the Duke Athletics Hall of Fame (inducted in 2018), North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame (2006) and the Stanly County Sports Hall of Fame (1993). In 2009, Harris was honored with the Atlantic Coast Conference’s prestigious Skeeter Francis Award, an honor presented annually to individuals for distinguished service to the league. In 2016, Harris received The Order of the Long Leaf Pine, an honor conferred by the Governor of North Carolina for exemplary service to the State of North Carolina and its communities.
Born August 22, 1942, Harris got his start in broadcasting in 1967 as the Sports Director at WZKY in his hometown, and later served as the Sports Director at WDNC in Durham from 1975-97. He served as the President of the North Carolina Sportscasters Association (1976), President of the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association (1992) and Honorary Chairman of the North Carolina Beautiful Golf Classic (2010) while also serving as a member of the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame (1996-08) and Board of Directors of Special Olympics North Carolina (2016-19).
In December of 2010, Harris published his autobiography, "How Sweet It Is!: From the Cotton Mill to the Crows' Nest".
Over the course of his career, Harris was involved with many charitable organizations including the Add Penfield Regional Consolidated Services Golf Tournament, Agape Corner School, ALS Association (Jim “Catfish” Hunter Chapter), Brad Johnson Celebrity Golf Classic, Brain Injury Association of North Carolina, Brenner Children’s Hospital, Celebrity Waiters Dinner for Leukemia Foundation, Children’s Charities of the Bluegrass, Children’s Miracle Network, Duke Children’s Hospital, Duke University Hospice, Eastern North Carolina Spinabifida Association, Emily K Foundation, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Grande Dunes Make-A-Wish Pro-Am, Hebron Colony Ministries, Juvenile Diabetes Association of North Carolina, March of Dimes, Meet Me At The Bridge Charity, Me Fine Foundation, Mulligans For Kids Golf Tournament, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Nazareth Children’s Home, New Hanover Medical Center, North Carolina Realtors Charity Challenge, North Carolina Vietnam Veterans Association, Oxford Masonic Home for Children, Ronald McDonald House of Durham, South Brunswick Educational Fund, Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, Triangle United Way, United Way of North Carolina, and The Willie Stargell Foundation.
Harris is survived by his wife of 61 years, Phyllis, along with daughter Bobbi Harris-McCoy, son-in-law, Ron McCoy, and two grandchildren, Tripp and Meredith Winkler.
