Duquesne Dukes Basketball Voice Falls Silent

Ray Goss

Ray Goss, who has been the radio voice for Duquesne Dukes basketball for 58 seasons, died Tuesday.

Goss, a Carnegie native, began his broadcasting career in 1959 when he began mornings at WDAD in Indiana, Pennsylvania. Over the years, Goss was promoted to general manager, steering WDAD through a number of changes, including the construction and sign-on of its FM sister station, WQMU in 1968.

It was that same year that he called his first basketball game for Duquesne, having graduated from the university just a decade prior, missing only two games in those 58 years. The first was in 1978, when he auditioned for a regional play-by-play job with the NBA, and the other in 2011, when his wife Dee passed away. Ultimately, Goss became the longest-tenured NCAA Division I men’s basketball play-by-play announcer.

Goss left WDAD in 1981, pausing his full-time career for a couple of community projects before a colleague reached out to him one day.

That colleague, Mark Harley, had wrapped up an 11-year tenure with WMAJ and WXLR in State College. That station, along with WDAD and WQMU, were both owned at the time by Clearfield-based Progressive Publishing, and was how the pair was acquainted.

Harley asked Goss if he was interested in getting together to put a new station on the air. Goss initially balked at the suggestion, but Harley, having an accounting background, persuaded Goss that it could be done.

The pair initially approached the owners of the then-struggling WAJE in Ebensburg, but were unsuccessful in negotiating a deal. Then they learned of a golden opportunity right in Goss’ own backyard.

Ridge Communications, then-owners of WVSC-AM/FM in Somerset, held the construction permit for an unbuilt radio station just two miles south of Indiana in Homer City borough. Already well-established with sales contacts in the area through Goss, they formed RayMark Broadcasting – chosen from their first names – and began negotiations with Ridge Communications owner Rich Adams, acquiring the permit in 1982.

They acquired a parcel of land along Old Route 119 between Indiana and Homer City, where they built a split-level ranch style house to accommodate studios and offices, with its transmitter site some 200 yards away. They also inked a deal with the burgeoning Satellite Music Network (SMN) for music and DJ’s. Goss later did sportscasts for SMN to be syndicated nationally to its other affiliates.

Goss stated that they were far from ready for signing on when they did, but had to in order to meet the FCC deadline to avoid the construction permit from expiring.

On October 25, 1983, their new enterprise, “WRID AM 1520, The Adult Address” signed on the air with a staff of nine. The daytime-only station’s modest 500 watt signal barely reached beyond the Indiana borough limits.

By the end of the decade, the station had changed call letters to WCCS, its dial position from 1520 to 1160, its power output from 500 to 10,000 watts, and added AM Stereo technology, IUP Sports, and Pittsburgh Pirates and Penguins hockey franchises.

By this time, Goss also decided to pursue other interests, selling his stake in WCCS to Harley. Goss continued to stay involved in the community, with projects including the Indiana County Fair. His self-published memoir “Misadventures in Broadcasting” hit bookstores in 2008.

Goss died after succumbing to injuries sustained in an automobile accident earlier this month. He was 89. He is survived by his seven children, 14 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. Funeral arrangements are pending.

Renda Media and Duquesne University contributed to this report