Ten dollars was all it took to coax Steve Gentile to embark on nearly five decades of college sports announcing.
Gentile, the official public address announcer for Catamount basketball, moved to Vermont in the ‘70s from Queens, New York to attend Champlain College.
When he graduated in 1978, Gentile knew he wanted to be a sportscaster but also that he needed a steady income.
“I did a few radio games and announced and realized that there was no way I was going to make a living doing this,” he said.
Gentile turned away from sportscasting until the coach of the Champlain College men’s basketball team offered him $10 to man the microphone for a game.
He took the offer, despite never having announced a game live before.
Gentile, 66, has now served as the voice of Vermont basketball at UVM, Champlain College and St. Michael’s College for a cumulative 47 years.
It was in 1997 that Gentile settled in at UVM as public address announcer and at Morgan-Stanley as a financial consultant, positions he’s held for the past 27 years and counting.
For as many as five games in a week, Gentile takes his courtside post at the scorer’s table among the tens of thousands of fans that fill Patrick Gym each season.
Gentile reports to the crowd on every basket, foul and timeout. During breaks in play, he also handles marketing, such as recognizing sponsors and commemorative events like Rally Against Cancer.
At halftime, Gentile welcomes the UVM Dance Team to center court while songs for their routines play from speakers mounted overhead — a sign of the times for Gentile.
“I used to bring my boombox with me … and then for the dances, hold the microphone to a boombox that had a cassette tape in it,” he said.
Wherever possible, Gentile has stayed true to his roots.
“From the very first game I did in 1978 to now, I’ve still always used the ‘for three’ and I’ve always used the ‘two minutes,’” Gentile said of the iconic catchphrases he delivers.
Gentile arrives almost two hours ahead of each game to practice his lines, often straight from his full-time job at Morgan-Stanley.
“I have it all in my mind and how I want to say it and then I actually do it in my head and say, ‘alright, does that sound good?’” he said.
From his front-row seat at the microphone, Gentile has witnessed peaks in America East basketball.
Like when Vermont Sports Hall of Famer Taylor Coppenrath, ‘05, put up 37 points against Northeastern for an 80-57 UVM win in the 2005 America East championship.
Or when Jarius Lyles of UMBC hit a deep buzzer-beater to defeat UVM in the 2018 America East final. UMBC then went on to upset No. 1 ranked University of Virginia in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
By far the highlight of his career, Gentile said, came in 2020 when he honored his own daughter, Melissa, in Patrick Gymnasium as a graduating member of the dance team.
“Announcing on the wireless mic and walking Melissa out to center court on senior day, it was just amazing. That was just something you just never forget,” he said.
Over the years, Catamount Country has reciprocated its appreciation for Gentile’s family.
“Some of the kindest words have been said to me sitting in that chair,” he said. “I’ve had fans come up and say ‘Melissa dances beautifully, you should be such a proud dad. You’ve done a good job.’”
In 2023, UVM Athletics honored Gentile’s 25th season as public address announcer.
“[Steve has overseen] twenty-five years [of] men’s and women’s basketball, 675 games, 40 playoff games, 13 America East championships … over $800,000 of 50-50 raffle money distributed,” said Jeff Schulman, director of UVM athletics, in a video Gentile shared with the Cynic.
Fifty years of sports announcing is just three seasons away for Gentile, and he shows no shortage of enthusiasm for his work.
“I’m nothing but just a big fan,” Gentile said. “I just get to talk with a microphone on.”
