A graduate of Muskegon High School, Hilliard Gates’ 52 years in sportscasting established himself as one of the finest in the profession. Christened Hilliard Gudelsky, he adopted the last name Gates when he got his start in broadcasting at WKBZ radio in Muskegon in 1936. In June 1940, the Muskegon native moved to Fort Wayne to take a job with WOWO radio, a powerful AM station. Gates switched to Fort Wayne’s WKJG in 1947, where he branched into television and administration.
While in Fort Wayne, Gates described the games of the National Basketball Association’s Zollner Pistons for 10 years prior to their move to Detroit in 1957. His abilities behind the microphone led to network recognition with his coverage of the first NBA All-Star Game for the Mutual Broadcasting System in 1951. In 1966 and 1967, he worked on radio coverage of Rose Bowl games for NBC. Showing his diverse talents, he handled live coverage of the Indianapolis 500 for the Canadian Television Network for nine years.
While Gates did the play-by-play coverage of Indiana University basketball for cable television, he is best known for his years of service as the voice of Indiana High School boy’s and girl’s basketball championships. He was nominated 20 times for the “Outstanding Sports Broadcaster” award and won the award seven times. He was the first broadcaster inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame, receiving the Silver Medal Award in 1969.
His experience led him behind the microphone for the 1987 film “Hoosiers,” a David and Goliath story based on the 32-30 upset of powerful Muncie Central by tiny Milan High School for the Indiana State Championship in 1954. His role was a logical choice, since he had announced the play-by-play account of the actual Milan/Muncie classic.