Dave Marcus has cycled by means of dozens of gamers and lots of of video games, seasons each good and unhealthy. In his greater than 20 years on the job, the voice of UCLA ladies’s basketball has typically seen one — and typically two — groups from the Bruins’ convention advance to the sport’s greatest stage, making him marvel when he may be capable of say one thing like he did Sunday.
Lastly, after Kiki Rice made two free throws within the closing seconds and the buzzer sounded inside Spokane Enviornment, Marcus unleashed these candy phrases.
“Final Fours up,” Marcus mentioned, “the Bruins are on their way to Tampa.”
If UCLA’s first journey to the Last 4 of the NCAA event has been a very long time coming for coach Cori Shut and her gamers, think about what it seems like for Marcus. A lot of the present roster was both infants or hadn’t been born when Marcus referred to as his first sport involving the crew in November 2003.
UCLA gamers have fun as confetti falls onto the courtroom after defeating LSU to achieve the Last 4 Sunday in Spokane, Wash.
(Jenny Kane / Related Press)
Earlier than this season, Marcus had seen the Bruins lower down nets solely twice — after profitable the 2006 Pac-10 event, when Noelle Quinn scored six factors within the closing 78 seconds to pressure time beyond regulation, and after profitable the 2015 Ladies’s Nationwide Invitation Event, when Jordin Canada scored half of her crew’s 62 factors.
The Bruins doubled that assortment of nets after climbing ladders twice in a 21-day span final month, their Large Ten event title adopted by a victory over Louisiana State within the Spokane Regional closing that arrange an excellent larger sport towards Connecticut on Friday inside Amalie Enviornment.
“I’ve always been curious, you know, what is the Final Four like,” Marcus mentioned, “and we’re about to find out.”
As Marcus likes to clarify throughout even a brief dialog, UCLA’s run isn’t about him however the tales he will get to inform. And there have been a lot over his 22 seasons.
UCLA middle Lauren Betts cuts the web after the Bruins beat LSU to clinch a spot within the Last 4 Sunday in Spokane, Wash.
(Jenny Kane / Related Press)
“Dave Marcus has given UCLA women’s basketball a labor of love for many, many years,” Shut mentioned. “I love his professionalism. I love his storytelling. But even more than that, I love how much he’s been committed to growing the game and honoring women’s basketball. He is truly a treasure for our program.”
Identified for his conversational fashion and a easy, mellifluous voice, Marcus is a one-man operation, serving as his personal engineer and gear supervisor. He perseveres by means of each problem, just like the time final season throughout an NCAA event sport at Pauley Pavilion when somebody unplugged his energy twine and the webcast went silent for a number of minutes.
“That was just unfortunate,” mentioned Marcus, whose calls could be heard at uclabruins.com/watch, “but fortunately we were able to figure it out and get back on.”
Marcus hasn’t all the time labored alone. Previous broadcast companions have included Tracy Murray, the previous Bruins and NBA ahead who now serves as a radio analyst for males’s basketball video games alongside Josh Lewin, and Angel Grey, who’s now a rising star at ESPN.
After getting his begin as a scholar broadcaster calling males’s basketball video games when he attended California, Marcus went on to work native highschool soccer and basketball video games for numerous Southern California tv retailers. He was later a play-by-play announcer and sideline reporter protecting school soccer and basketball video games for an unwired radio community earlier than getting employed to be the voice of Pepperdine ladies’s basketball for 2 seasons.
When the Bruins referred to as about a gap to do their video games earlier than the 2003-04 season, Marcus was overjoyed. He’s additionally labored a handful of males’s video games alongside Murray over time and says his method doesn’t change whether or not he’s broadcasting to the complete UCLA radio community or a webcast that may be heard by considerably fewer listeners.
“The experience for me is the same — I’m at the game, I’ve got a great seat and I get to describe what’s going on, and so I’m going to leave the metrics to others,” Marcus mentioned. “I hope that there’s enough value there that I keep getting brought back, but so far it’s worked.”
Mentioning that it’s laborious to land airtime within the L.A. radio market — even many Kings broadcasts are relegated to an app — Marcus mentioned there are advantages to doing a webcast that individuals can stream by means of their telephone and play of their automotive.
UCLA forwards Janiah Barker and Angela Dugalic and their teammates toss confetti after beating LSU to clinch a spot within the Last 4 Sunday in Spokane, Wash.
(Younger Kwak / Related Press)
“It’s easier than trying to find a radio station sometimes,” Marcus mentioned. “We may have more people listening to the way we do it than if we were on a commercial station — I have no idea — but it’s pretty accessible now, and I always think that no one’s listening until I say something really dumb and then I hear about it from everywhere.”
A few of Marcus’ favourite tales about this UCLA crew have come off the courtroom. Earlier than the season opener, he watched because the Bruins performed a basketball clinic within the suburbs of Paris with economically deprived kids, instructing them dribble with every hand, bounce cease and pivot.
“It was kind of hilarious,” Marcus mentioned, “because very few of the kids spoke English and very few of the players spoke French — although Zania Socka-Nguemen does speak some French — but I was just watching players, some of them almost come out of their shell; Janiah Barker was animated with the kids, and it was just wonderful to see that side of her.”
When the Bruins traveled to Honolulu for a event later within the month, they performed with kids dwelling in transitional housing who delighted within the probability to spend time with new college-aged buddies.
“At the end of it,” Marcus mentioned, “the Bruin players handed out some of their playing cards and a lot of kids didn’t even realize these were even basketball players, they just thought a group from [mainland] America had come to play with them and it was really kind of cool.”
Marcus mentioned he additionally appreciated the authenticity of Shut, who is similar particular person in postgame interviews as she is when the microphone is turned off.
If all goes properly this weekend, he’ll get to interview her after two extra video games and earlier than one closing set of nets will get lower down. Although the Bruins made historical past by getting right here, there may very well be extra to return.
“It’s great to see them at this point realize their goals,” Marcus mentioned, “and I’m happy to be there describing the rest of the way.”
