'I feed off the crowd': Voice of OU hoops brings the buzz on mic for NCAAs at LCA

Detroit — It's been a heck of a March Madness for Kevin Beers.

Beers, the enthusiastic public-address announcer for the Oakland men's basketball team, got to watch the Golden Grizzlies' magical run in the NCAA Tournament, including the shocking win over Kentucky, in Pittsburgh last week. Then, this past week, Beers has been the P.A. voice of the Midwest Regional at Little Caesars Arena.

This is the biggest gig yet for Beers, Oakland's P.A. man since 2005 — with a spot in the Final Four on the line Sunday in the game between Purdue and Tennessee, before what was expected to be a sellout crowd.

"Oh yeah, I don't think anything compares to it," Beers said a couple of hours before tipoff Sunday. "If it seems like I have fun, it's the truth. I absolutely have a blast.

"I love it. I feed off the crowd."

That's the beauty of this gig for Beers, who turns 59 on Monday. For Oakland games, he calls the game heavily in Oakland's favor. That, interestingly, confuses folks when Oakland and Michigan State have played at LCA, or The Palace before, because Oakland is technically the home team, even though MSU by far draws more fans.

At LCA this week, though, Beers has had to stay neutral, but that doesn't mean dialing it back. That's certainly not what the NCAA wants at these neutral-site games where, if there's no local team involved, it can be tough to manufacture an electric atmosphere. Instead, it's been a license for Beers to be at 100, all the time.

"That's fun, because there's always a reaction from somewhere," said Beers, who called first- and second-round NCAA Tournament games at the Palace in 2006 and 2013, but those don't compare to this. "It was so loud.

"So, that's pretty cool."

Beers is known for some catchphrases doing games at Oakland, including the, "YOU can't do THAT" call after an opponent travels — a call that leads to chants in the crowd, and a call that is so well-known throughout the Horizon League, opponents in pregame film sessions have been known to plead with teammates not to travel at the O'Rena, so they don't have to hear the call and chant. Beers, of course, can't do that call during the NCAA Tournament at Little Caesars Arena.

Beers also calls Oakland 3's with vigor, like, "Jack Gohlke for one, two, threeeeeeee!" He actually started to do that call on a 3 by Tennessee's Dalton Knecht on Friday, but quickly fixed that.

"Nobody said anything," said Beers, "so I'm not sure anybody caught it."

Beers, a Walled Lake native and Central Michigan alum who got his start in radio doing a morning show in Gaylord in the early 1990s, has a background in broadcasting and cinematic arts, and he used to coach high school basketball. It's the best of all worlds when it comes to being the voice for the fans in the arena.

The first rule is to have fun, Beers said, and he gets all A's there.

But there's a balance, too, which he tells aspiring P.A. announcers when they ask what the secret is.

"There's not really a secret," said Beers, of Rochester Hills. "The entertainment part there has to be a balance. It can't be at the expense of the real stars, who are the student-athletes and coaches. The focus has to be on the game, so when you come up with stuff for the audience, it's gotta be with a bent toward the game.

"When you click on something and the crowd gets into it, that's a blast."

Beers committed to this gig with the Midwest Regional, which is co-hosted by Oakland and Detroit Mercy, months ago, so he would've had to skip a trip to Dallas had Oakland beaten N.C. State in the Round of 32. Oakland lost in overtime, 79-73, which stung for as long as Beers allows himself to be stung — which, in his case, isn't long. He's pure joy on the mic and in person, rarely encountering him without a smile, a gregarious greeting and a fist-bump.

Beers started at Oakland during the 2005-06 season, the year after the Golden Grizzlies' first run to the NCAA Tournament. He got a call from then-assistant coach Jeff Smith, who's back as an assistant these days, asking Beers to help with the halftime entertainment. That led to the request for a couple of P.A. gigs per season, when the regular announcer was out. It turned out, the regular missed Game 1, Beers stepped in, and here we are, 19 years later.

He's got a day job, in fundraising at Oakland University. And then he's got a fun job.

"I don't know if nervous is the right word, but, yeah, I guess, a little bit. It's not about doing the job; it's everything outside the job," said Beers, who has four sons with wife Melissa, including Griffin, a former team manager for Oakland. "I don't get nervous about talking. I don't care how many people are there. Everything's just so much tighter (regulated) for this than an Oakland game. For Oakland, I feel like I can do it with my eyes closed."

"There's a lot more on the line."

tpaul@detroitnews.com

@tonypaul1984