Radtke new voice for Nevada

RENO " There is a new voice in town.

Ryan Radtke, 31, makes his debut Saturday night as the new play-by-play radio voice of the Nevada football team when the Wolf Pack hosts Grambling State at 6:05 p.m. at Mackay Stadium.

Radtke, who will also be the radio voice for the Nevada men's basketball team, replaces the legendary Dan Gustin, who called Pack games for the past 30-plus years. Gustin will do the television play-by-play of the locally televised games.

"It's not going to be strange for me," Radtke said. "I known Dan did the games for a long time and did a great job. I'm not familiar with the specifics. I don't know how things went down. I've heard a lot of good things from a lot of people."

Radtke comes to Nevada after 10 years with the University of Arizona Radio Network. He did pre-game, halftime and post-game shows for football and basketball and also was the secondary play-by-play guy. He is just finishing up his third season as the play-by-play voice of the Tucson Sidewinders of the Pacific Coast League, and he'll continue to work with that franchise when it comes to Reno next season.

"I think people will be very impressed with his knowledge and the way he does his homework," said Rory Hickok, Nevada associate athletic director. "He and Scott (Gordon, football analyst) are rising talents. We're thrilled to have them."

No question Nevada fans will enjoy Radtke's booming voice.

"I am excited," he said in a recent telephone interview. "I'm looking forward to getting there and concentrating on one thing instead of 80. I'm ready to get there and get settled in. It's a great opportunity.

"It's a chance to be the main guy, and that's something that appealed to me. I was doing University of Arizona for 10 years. It was a great experience and the people were great. Bryan Jeffreys has been there 20 years and he wasn't going anywhere."

Another plus for him is that his parents still live in the Bay Area, and he'll be able to see them on a regular basis.

Radtke was a student at De La Salle High in Concord when he had the opportunity to be in the broadcast booth for a Giants-Dodgers game. He met Hank Greenwald and Ted Robinson, and that night he decided what he wanted as a career

Radtke grew up listening to the late Bill King, who did Warriors, Raiders and Oakland A's broadcasts.

"I listened to him all the time," Radtke said. "He was the greatest."

One of the things that impressed Radtke about King was his idol's expertise at doing three sports. With his Triple-A responsibilities, Radtke also will be doing three sports this coming season.

Radtke said he doesn't have a preference.

"They all have their own challenges," he said. "Baseball is the most challenging since you have so much time between pitches and the length of the game. The challenge in basketball is keeping up with the play.""

Radtke said he's been going 100 miles-per-hour in recent weeks with his Triple-A baseball responsibilities, getting to know head coach Chris Ault, studying game films to acquaint himself with the team and getting ready to move his family.

"I've met coach Ault (earlier in the summer) and I was sent DVDs with last year's games," Radtke said. "I was able to familiarize myself with the style of play. I have a DVD of each quarterback (Colin Kaepernick and Nick Graziano). I have 10 to 12 pages of notes. I'm going through them again and again. I talked to coach Ault again last week so I can stay on top of things.

"Things will be easier once I'm there full-time."

-Scott Gordon also makes his Wolf Pack debut on Saturday night. He also attended Arizona approximately the same time, but doesn't really know Radtke all that well.

Gordon was a quarterback at Arizona and has served as a volunteer quarterback coach at UC Davis. He has worked as a sideline reporter for Comcast since 2004 and has done some work in the Arena League. He's also done radio work for San Jose State and UC Davis.

"I'm really excited," Gordon said. "This team has been to three straight bowl games. I've met coach Ault, and I have so much respect for him."

Gordon has watched tape of the UNLV game because it was Graziano's best game, and he also watched the New Mexico State game because it was one of Kaepernick's best games.

Gordon works for a medical supply company in Sacramento, and said his business takes him into Reno quite often.

Gordon will work radio with Radtke unless the game is televised locally. When that happens he will shift to TV and work with Dan Gustin, and Chris Vargas, former Pack quarterback, will work with Radtke.

THE RADTKE FILE

Age: 31

High school: De La Salle

College: University of Arizona

Favorite announcer: Bill King