M. Hoops gets new voice on the radio

The death of longtime Palestra public-address announcer John McAdams this past summer meant that fans at college basketball's most historic gym would have a new voice narrating their winter evenings.

Penn basketball fans listening to games on the radio this season will also have a new narrator to listen to, albeit for a far less dramatic reason.

After seven seasons as the play-by-play voice of Quakers men's basketball on WXPN-FM, Adam Hertzog has moved to Los Angeles to take a job with ESPN, WXPN Director of News and Sports Bob Bumbera said.

Hertzog worked on Penn basketball broadcasts as a student from 1993 until his graduation in 1995 and became WXPN's play-by-play voice in 1997. That headset will now be worn once again by a student, current junior Brian Seltzer.

The Elkins Park, Pa., native's voice should already be familiar to fans of many Penn sports. For men's basketball, Seltzer has hosted the pregame, postgame and halftime shows in recent years. He has also served as a sideline reporter and occasional color commentator.

Seltzer has also done color commentary for Penn women's basketball games on WXPN and play-by-play of soccer, volleyball, baseball and sprint football for pennathletics.com.

"When I first heard that Adam was leaving, I was obviously surprised," Seltzer said. "I was very happy for him, because the opportunity is great, but obviously when I heard about the play-by-play [chance], I got pretty pumped about that as well."

Seltzer said that he learned a lot from Hertzog about the amount of work required to do radio play-by-play.

"I got to see the work ethic that it took, the mindset that it took, the preparation that it took to be ready to step up now that he's gone," Seltzer said. "There's no nerves whatsoever -- I feel completely prepared."

Seltzer will work with Vince Curran, who played for Penn from 1989 to 1992. He has since been a part-time color commentator for Penn basketball broadcasts and now works as WXPN's student sports director, with seven interns working under him.

During Seltzer's time at the mic, Curran has mainly done broadcasts for games that have only aired online for various reasons, including WXPN's winter fundraising drives. Seltzer was the sideline reporter for all of those games, so he said that "the chemistry should be great" between the two.

With Hertzog's departure and the graduation earlier of his last partner, Alexander Snyder-Mackler, Bumbera had the option of creating an all-professional broadcast team if he chose.

But while Bumbera said that he doesn't "feel like I have a student who is ready to step into the color role," he stressed that he "never really wanted an all-professional team."

So Seltzer, who has also worked for CBS Radio Sports in Washington and Levittown, Pa.-based WBCB-AM, got a promotion.

Seltzer said he is very pleased that students will continue to be involved in the on-air portion of the broadcasts.

"We have a staff full of capable students, and I think they do a great job of putting the broadcast together," he said. "XPN listeners, the feedback they always give Bob [is] there is no detectable dropoff in the quality of the broadcast" between the professional shows on WXPN and Penn basketball.

Overall, Seltzer says he is both honored to have the play-by-play job and fully ready for it.

"To be able to call play-by-play for Penn men's basketball on the floor of the Palestra -- I'm not sure what makes for a better job than that."

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