‘We’ll just do our best to fight through’: Gonzaga radio voice Tom Hudson adjusting to odd season on the air

It has been quite the interesting ride for Gonzaga since March. An NCAA Tournament cancellation, shuffling of the 2020-21 schedule seemingly every other week and social distancing guidelines in place on the sidelines have altered the normalcy of college basketball.

One constant has been the voice calling every game that has actually tipped off – Tom Hudson, officially the voice of the Zags.

During last season, before the sports world shuttered its doors, Hudson was on his way back from Las Vegas after the West Coast Conference Tournament when news was fluid from the NCAA.

In Vegas, things were on as scheduled. During the switch to his connecting flight, there was some chatter about possible changes to the tournament. Then when they landed in Spokane, the announcement was made that no fans, band or cheerleaders would be allowed.

“This is really crazy, but at least they’re still going to be playing basketball,” Hudson said.

Then March 12 came with an announcement that the tournament would be canceled.

“We went from this celebration of a team that we thought was going to make a deep run to that’s going to be too bad that fans aren’t going to be there to, ‘Wow this thing has been canceled,’ ” Hudson said. “I think you feel bad for the players, because there was no real closure to the season one way or the other.”

But COVID-19 has continued to alter the way Hudson and the rest of the Learfield IMG College radio team operates this season.

The craziness started with the abrupt cancellation of both tournaments in Orlando, Florida – the NIT Tip-Off and the Jimmy V Classic. Those games would have been on and after Thanksgiving.

In the past, Hudson would be joined by his family on the road to spend the holiday together. With the alteration of the schedule and the restrictions in place, it forced Hudson on the road to Fort Myers, Florida, then Indianapolis for 11 days while his family was trapped in Spokane.

“I’ve been fortunate in the last few years, my kids are old enough now that my family has come on some of our Thanksgiving trips,” he said. “And that’s been a special thing for us. And then to be able to spend time with the other Gonzaga families, that has become a special time for us.”

The 11 days on the road were also a unique situation. Even during March Madness, Hudson doesn’t find himself on the road for that many consecutive days. But in order to limit travel, the road was his home at the beginning of the season.

“We’ve tried to be really flexible with booking tickets and hotels and understanding that it might cost a little bit more for us this year, because things are getting changed (last minute),” he said. “So yeah, there has been some scrambling to it for sure.”

It has been an adjustment at home as Hudson has previously kept to the same routines for almost 20 years on the radio.

“We’re just going to kind of have to roll with the punches,” he said. “So it has been a little bit different than the years past where, by now all of our travels already been done and we know where we’re going and what we’re doing, but hey, we’re playing basketball and so I think that’s the important part of it.”

The other adjustment has been behind the microphones.

A normal call consists of Hudson on play-by-play and former Bulldog Adam Morrison on commentary. This season, Morrison only acts as Hudson’s sidekick during home games as they work to minimize their travel.

Luckily, being the only person on the call is not entirely new to Hudson. Between 2002 – Hudson’s first season on the radio – and 2007, he acted as the sole voice on Bulldogs radio broadcasts. It was not until 2008 when former Zag Richard Fox joined alongside Hudson.

Hudson is still prepping for the worst-case scenario, which will happen when the Zags head to the University of San Francisco for Saturday’s game. The Dons are not allowing any visiting media, so Hudson and Morrison will call the game remotely from the McCarthey Athletic Center.

“We’ll adapt and we’ll adjust and then we’ll continue to push to be out on the road as much as we can, obviously safely because being able to be there and call the games is such a difference … even if we’re not sitting where we normally do,” he said.

Right now, USF is the only game Hudson is planning on calling from the TV broadcast.

Logistically, that does raise problems. Having to rely on the TV crew and camera operators to provide the right angles for Hudson and Morrison to make the correct and insightful comments is a risky game. Hudson said he often watches referees make the call whereas TV cameras immediately focus on a player’s reaction. Or someone makes a shot and TV cuts to the wrong player.

“We’ll just do our best to fight through,” he said. “(Morrison) will be with me when we do the games we have to do from home, so that’ll be helpful. One of the things we’ve been trying to do is to make sure that this season has been as normal as it possibly can. Our opinion is, ‘Let’s do this the best way that we possibly can and not use the (COVID) excuse.’ ”