Larry Ward Announces Retirement From UTC Women’s Basketball Team

Mocs on the Mic 182 – Larry Ward announces his retirement.

Photos, pieces of net and championship rings, along with memorabilia from the Chattanooga Mocs women’s basketball team, are what matter most to Larry Ward as the iconic voice silences his microphone after 26 seasons with the program.


“Wes Moore let me cut the net,” Ward recalled after one of his many SoCon tournament victories. “I was able to move up the ranks. It was pretty exciting. It was a big deal. It was a small thing, but it was huge. You’re part of the team when you do that.”


Ward called more than 800 games for the Mocs and saw UTC win 70 percent of the time. That included 15 trips to the NCAA Tournament, including the memorable victory over Rutgers in 2004.


He began the 1988-89 season under coach Craig Parrott by calling the Mocs’ first-ever NCAA Tournament game that year. In 12 seasons with Wes Moore, trips to the Big Dance were almost predictable, as he called eight of Moore’s nine games and two at the WNIT.


After that run, he was behind the mic for Hall of Fame coach Jim Foster, former MOC-turned-coach Katie Burrows and capped his time by making back-to-back trips to the playoffs with rookie head coach Shawn Poppie.


He has commentated on games in California, Texas, Washington, New York and Mexico, to name a few, giving a mental picture of home to those who couldn’t travel to see the (Lady) Mocs in person. Even fans of the opposing teams have followed the games commentated by the “Voice”.


But now it’s time to pass the microphone to someone else.


“It’s time to transition to a new coaching staff,” Ward said. “I wish them luck and good seasons in the future, but I’m not traveling anymore. I’m tired. I’m not traveling with baseball anymore. I can go to games virtually. I can’t really do that with women’s basketball. It’s time.”


In its early days, women’s basketball was virtually unknown on the radio nationwide. Most often, it was teams from the Power 5 conferences. Almost no one at the mid-level was footing the bill.


“It wasn’t an accident,” Ward said of how the concert began.


Ward asked Parrott a question. “I asked him why weren’t you on the radio?” Ward recalled. “The guys were. Why weren’t you there?”


Parrott had no answer to this question but sent it to then-athletic director Harold Wilkes, who immediately supported the idea.


Ward set to work finding sponsors and a radio station where he could live for three seasons.


From the beginning, Parrott acknowledged that it wasn’t exactly a financial success. “It was tough to get started financially. We shared a room on our road trips and had a lot of good discussions.”


“It wasn’t a profitable situation,” Ward added. “At the end of the third year, I went to Craig and told him I would help him in another way.”


For the next six years, Ward handled public relations for the women’s team. At that time, the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament was hosted by Chattanooga, and Ward returned to the air to do play-by-play.


Local radio personality Chris Goforth lent his voice to the girls’ basketball program for three seasons, until Wes Moore’s first season. The next two seasons saw Moore lay the groundwork for what was to come, but not on radio.


After reaching the NCAA in his third campaign, Moore wanted to get the games broadcast again and approached Ward about his position as a commentator for the Chattanooga Lookouts. However, it wasn’t until later in the year that Lookouts owner Frank Burke became involved.


“After two seasons without radio broadcasts, including an NCAA appearance where our fans had to listen to the one-sided version produced by our opponent, a generous Frank Burke decided to change that,” Moore said.


A conversation Burke had with then-sports director Oval Jaynes led to an inquiry into what it would take to get women’s basketball back on the air.


“Frank told me to sell the ad and I had someone do the broadcast,” Ward said. “I went on vacation. Frank had changed his mind and wanted me to do it and the rest is history.”


That history includes 18 Southern Conference regular-season titles, 15 SoCon Tournament titles, 15 trips to the NCAA Tournament and four appearances in the Women’s NIT.


“Larry brought a lot of enthusiasm and energy to our program, which helped grow our brand,” Moore said. “As a result, attendance skyrocketed, as did wins. Larry brought Lady Mocs basketball to life during his broadcasts for my last 12 years and the 11 following my tenure. He will be sorely missed by Mocs fans everywhere.”


Ward was behind the mic when UTC became the 39^th team in NCAA Division I history to reach 900 wins. He shared with fans Wes Moore 500^th career win as well as Jim Foster’s 800 and 900^th victories.


The Mocs pulled off upsets over No. 20 Tennessee in 2012, and in a span of three weeks in 2014, UTC beat the No. 4 Lady Vols and No. 7 Stanford, both at the Roundhouse, propelling UTC into the AP Top 25. Ward witnessed and was a part of all of those and so many other stunning victories.

He’s seen the game evolve over his time on the sidelines. From the comfort of Maclellan Gym to the expanse of McKenzie Arena. Fans have adapted and filled the Roundhouse seats. Moore and the wins have helped make that happen.


“The fans have realized that this game is not just about girls playing basketball,” Ward said. “It’s an intense game, maybe even more intense than the men’s game. You never get bored watching a game. You get beat sometimes, but the enthusiasm of the fans has never wavered. It’s only grown.”


In 2004, Ward was the broadcaster for UTC’s historic first-round win over Rutgers in the NCAA Tournament at McKenzie. His voice rose above the crowd and onto the airwaves when Katie (Galloway) Burrows took “the shot” that brought the crowd to its feet.


“It was a really big moment,” he recalled. “That shot changed the perception of women’s basketball at UTC. People thought, ‘Wow! This is fun.’ Attendance started to increase dramatically.”


He will now leave the stands and relive the good old days with former players and coaches from the stands.


“Larry has always been a strong supporter of women’s basketball,” Burrows said. “During my playing and coaching days, Larry never missed an opportunity to cover his girls on the radio. The support behind the scenes was even greater. He is a valued member of the UTC family and will be greatly missed.”


Ward will continue with the Chattanooga Lookouts where he is in his 36^th season with the Cincinnati Reds AA minor league team. He is a member of three Halls of Fame, including the Greater Chattanooga Sports Hall of Fame (2005), the Southern League Hall of Fame (2015) and in 2022 was inducted into the Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame.


The Chattanooga women’s basketball team will continue to excite and draw fans, but the sound will never be quite the same.