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The Portland Trail Blazers today announced they've hired Travis Demers to be the team's new radio voice.
"We're very excited to have Travis join our broadcast team," said Blazers President Chis McGowan in a statement. "He did an incredible job helping us last season and our fans were able to hear him call some of the biggest Trail Blazers moments we've had in the last 20 years. He has an incredible work ethic and we look forward to our fans hearing him in his new role."
Demers substituted for the former longtime Blazers radio announcer Brian Wheeler last season for 57 games as Wheeler dealt with health challenges.
Wheeler, only the third radio announcer in the team's history, succeeded Bill Schonley in 1998. Wheeler combined an encyclopedic knowledge of the Blazers' history and the NBA with operatic expressions of anguish and joy, depending on which way the ball was bouncing.
Demers is a familiar name to local sports fans, having served in a variety of roles on Portland's KFXX (750 AM) since 2003 before joining the Blazers flagship station KPOJ (620 AM) in 2015. He currently hosts the "Rip City Drive" show on that station weekdays from 3 to 6 pm.
"'I'm humbled by the opportunity to call games for a franchise that I love, to work with incredible people, and share that with the best fans in the NBA," said Demers. "It's the only thing I've ever wanted to do, it's an absolute dream job. I'm thrilled to be able to live out that dream in Rip City."
The Blazers open their preseason exhibition schedule Oct. 8 at Veterans Memorial Coliseum against the Denver Nuggets, whom they defeated in the playoffs last season.