‘Voice of the Panthers’ Bill Hillgrove Receives Woody Graham ‘Voice of College Sports’ Award.
(Pittsburgh,Pa) Bill Hillgrove, the longtime radio play-by-play announcer for University of Pittsburgh football and basketball, was honored with the Woody Durham Voice of College Sports Award in Winston-Salem Monday evening. Hillgrove was selected to receive the honor by a vote of the National Sports Media Association (NSMA).
Congrats to the legend—Bill Hillgrove!
The Voice of the Panthers was awarded the Woody Durham Voice of College Sports Award on Monday evening.
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— Pitt Panthers (@Pitt_ATHLETICS) June 25, 2019
Sponsored by Learfield IMG College and the University of North Carolina athletics department, the award was presented during the 60th NSMA awards banquet in Winston-Salem.
NSMA member play-by-play announcers, as well as representatives of the two sponsoring organizations vote for the award, which was won in its inaugural year by Indiana University play-by-play announcer Don Fischer, a 26-time winner of the NSMA’s Indiana Sportscaster of the Year award.
Hillgrove is a Pittsburgh native and Duquesne University graduate, who began his Pitt broadcast duties in 1969, doing only Panther road games. The next season, he became the full-time color commentator, alongside play-by-play announcer Ed Conway. When Conway died in 1974, Hillgrove took over as the play-by-play announcer, a job he has held ever since.
In 1978, Hillgrove added television sports anchor to his duties, serving as sports director for WTAE-TV.
And in 1994, Dan Rooney appointed Hillgrove as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ radio play-by-play announcer, working alongside legendary color commentator Myron Cope. He is one of a handful of play-by-play announcers who calls college football games on Saturdays and NFL games on Sundays.
In 2007, the National Football Foundation honored Hillgrove with its Chris Schenkel Award, in recognition of his work as Pitt’s football broadcaster.
The 2019 season will mark his 46th broadcasting Pitt football. The upcoming Pitt basketball season will be his 51st.
Bill and his wife of 54 years, Rosette, live in the Pittsburgh area. They are the parents of one son (Bill) and one daughter (Leah), and proud grandparents of two grandchildren.
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