Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Chet Buchanan no longer roaming the sidelines as UNLV hype man

Dave Rice Foundation 2013

Sam Morris

Chet Buchanan calls out a bid during the live auction at An Evening With Dave Rice, a fundraiser for the Dave Rice Foundation, on Friday, May 3, 2013.

UNLV’s final home men’s basketball game of the season on Wednesday will sound a little different than most games over the past eight seasons. That’s because game-day emcee Chet Buchanan is no longer on the microphone.

Buchanan, who hosts Chet Buchanan and the Morning Zoo on 98.5 KLUC, decided to end his time at UNLV after helping pump up the crowds at home basketball and football games starting with the 2006-07 seasons. Buchanan and UNLV both declined to comment on his decision to leave.

The Rebels paid Buchanan in tickets, he said. In his absence Wednesday night, longtime Hey Reb performer Jon Goldman took over the microphone.

There was noticeably less pre- and in-game chatter this season, the first under Athletic Director Tina Kunzer-Murphy. In the summer, she talked about creating a more collegiate environment for home football games and that philosophy may have extended to the arena, too, where it’s rare for college teams to have a hype man.

Buchanan’s departure comes a little more than two weeks after three members of UNLV Athletics’ marketing department all submitted their resignations on the same day. It’s unclear if those decisions are related.

Taylor Bern can be reached at 948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Taylor on Twitter at twitter.com/taylorbern.

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