Longtime voice of the Shockers Mike Kennedy to miss games for cancer treatment
Wichita State men’s basketball fans won’t hear the same play-by-play voice they’ve grown accustomed to for the past 44 years on the radio during the Shockers’ road swing in North Carolina.
Longtime play-by-play radio announcer Mike Kennedy released a statement before WSU’s game at East Carolina to inform fans the reason he stayed behind on this road trip: to receive treatment for his stage two prostate cancer.
“Unfortunately, tonight it is necessary to step back from that labor of love for a moment,” Kennedy said in a statement, which he also read on air during KEYN’s pregame show. “I am receiving treatment for prostate cancer, and in order to maintain the optimum schedule for those treatments, I have decided to remain at home and will miss the games at East Carolina and Charlotte. I am roughly two weeks into treatment and tolerating it well and feel good, and if that continues, it is likely I will not miss any more games.
Kennedy, 75, told The Eagle that he is “feeling fine” and encouraged by how treatments have been going. A stage two diagnosis means the tumor has not spread and his blood work has come back normal.
“I want everyone to know that we were fortunate to identify my situation early enough that, while there are never any guarantees, the prognosis for a positive outcome is good, and I am receiving excellent medical care,” Kennedy said in the statement. “I have always been blessed with good health and probably have been a little nonchalant about that, but my wife Debbie has stayed after me about keeping regular doctor’s appointments. And it was because of that, that the doctors were able to diagnose the cancer in a timely manner. If there is a message in all of this, I urge all men to get checked regularly.”
Kennedy, the ninth-longest tenured play-by-play voice in the country, has called more than 1,400 Shocker games since beginning full time during the 1980-81 Elite Eight season. Kennedy and Dave Dahl, his partner for home games at Koch Arena, are one of the longest-tenured radio duos in the country, with this season marking their 44th working together.
Before Thursday, Kennedy had missed just one game in his career — due to a 10-day quarantine following a positive COVID-19 test when the Shockers played at Houston on Jan. 6, 2021. And even though he wasn’t there in person, Kennedy still called in to be part of the pregame and postgame shows on the radio.
Kennedy told The Eagle that while it was disappointing to miss a road trip, he said the possibility of calling WSU’s final five games of the regular season and the American Athletic Conference tournament in Fort Worth, Texas, was what he wanted to do.
“The support and encouragement I have received beyond my family, from WSU administrators, coaches and my broadcasting teammates, has been overwhelming and gratifying beyond words,” Kennedy said in a statement. “Based on how that has made me feel, I encourage all of you, if you know anyone dealing with cancer or any difficult medical diagnosis, to reach out to them — I can’t tell you how much your words can mean. Thank you to Shocker Nation for your incredible support over these many years, and I look forward to getting back in action next week and beyond.”
Filling Kennedy’s play-by-play role for WSU’s next two games will be Shane Dennis, well-known to Shocker fans as a former star baseball player at WSU who currently hosts a daily talk radio show on ESPN Wichita and calls WSU home games that stream on ESPN+.
“Mike, you have meant an unbelievable amount to me dating back to my teenage years,” Dennis said on the radio pregame show. “I’m very honored to try to fill your shoes. I know it will be a shocker to some of Shocker Nation’s system not hearing Mike Kennedy’s voice, but I’ll do the best that I can do.”
“We miss you, buddy,” chimed in Bob Hull, Kennedy’s color analyst on the road. “I started with you 19 years ago and this is the first time I’ve ever been on the road for a radio broadcast without you by my side, so it feels a little weird.”
This story was originally published February 15, 2024 at 5:19 PM.
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