Longtime Duquesne University basketball announcer Ray Goss dies at 89

Longtime Duquesne University basketball announcer Ray Goss has died at the age of 89. 

The university said Tuesday that Goss, who was the longest tenured play-by-play announcer in Division I men's basketball, died at the age of 89 after spending 58 years as the Voice of the Dukes.

Goss called his first Duquesne basketball game in 1968 and missed only two games during his nearly sixty years with the university. 

"We're deeply saddened to learn of Ray's passing," said Duquesne Interim Director of Athletics John Henderson. "You would be hard-pressed to find a soul who loved Duquesne, and Duquesne basketball, more than Ray Goss."

"Ray Goss was not only the voice of Duquesne basketball -- he was the heart of the Dukes for a wide audience," said Duquesne University President Ken Gormley. "For 58 years, he sat behind the microphone and called games as the voice of the team he loved, reaching thousands of fans over multiple generations with his unique style of play-by-play broadcasting."

From 1978 through 2011, Goss called 977 consecutive games for Duquesne and when the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted normal routines in 2020, Goss called games remotely so that Duquesne fans could continue to listen to broadcasts.

The university said that funeral arrangements for Goss are pending.

Goss leaves behind seven children, 14 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.