Oklahoma State University Athletics
Gums A Special Piece of Cowgirl Family
March 23, 2013 | Cowgirl Basketball
March 23, 2013
STILLWATER, Okla. - For Kevin Gum, Cowgirl basketball is more than a sport.
It's a second family.
Gum, who has been the Cowgirls' play-by-play radio announcer for more than 20 years, started covering women's basketball in high school, when his job at a Monroe, La., television station had him covering Louisiana Tech women's basketball. Gum got his start with Cowgirl basketball after earning a degree in Journalism and Broadcasting from Oklahoma State.
"They got ready to put the Cowgirls on the radio in the fall of '89, and they knew that I had some women's basketball experience," Gum said. "I was right out of college when they asked me if I'd be interested in doing it, so I thought I'd give it a try."
Now, 23 years later, Gum is a single father to two boys, Trevor and Landry, and continues his role as play-by-play radio announcer for every Cowgirl basketball game. His sons, who are 12 and 13, respectively, have grown up with the Cowgirls at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
"I can remember when I first started bringing them to games," Gum said. "They were about 2 and 3 at the time, and it's been neat to see them grow up here through the years. "We show up to the arena, whether it's on the road or at home, and they go off and do their thing, and shoot hoops with other kids they see on the court, and they go up and bug the different sports information people. Oklahoma State has really become their second family over the last decade."
Cowgirl basketball has been especially important to Gum's older son, Landry, who is special needs.
"As is the case with a lot of special needs kids, they tend to latch onto something they have a real passion for, and for Landry it happened to be women's basketball," Gum said. For Landry and his father, the loss of former Cowgirl basketball head coach Kurt Budke and assistant coach Miranda Serna in a November 2011 plane crash was devastating. Gum said it was the lowest moment of his time with Cowgirl basketball.
"They were two special people, not only to me and my family, but really Landry in particular," Gum said.
"Landry lost a little piece of himself when that happened. It took a while for him to understand what happened with Coach Budke, and that him and Coach Serna weren't coming back. They were really good to him. Miranda would come and get him and take him for ice cream during the offseason, and Coach Budke would come by and see him and keep that connection."
Although Landry will always miss Coach Budke and Coach Serna, Coach Littell and the rest of the current coaching staff have welcomed him into their Cowgirl basketball family.
"The coaching staff we have now is amazing, and they've done the same things," Gum said. "Coach Littell invites him to come on the bus any time they want to ... I'll be doing pregame stuff, and going from here to there in the arena, and every once in a while I'll have one of those `Where's Landry?' moments. He's always either with Liz Donohoe, or in one of the locker rooms."
Having Landry around is equally rewarding for the players and comes in the form of hugs and high fives, regardless of the game's outcome.
"When someone can put a smile on your face, no matter what mood you're in good or bad... that's someone special. I light up when I see him and we get along really well," Donohoe said. "I love that kid, he's easy to get along with, fun to be around and he helps me out with everything. He makes me laugh, and when you see him and he makes you feel special, that's a true blessing. He's amazing."
When he's not working basketball games, Gum runs Cowboy Corner, a convenience store in Stillwater. He opened Cowboy Corner the same year he started working with Cowgirl Basketball.
"It's like with any small business: long days," Gum said.
"You get up at about 5:30 in the morning; you get the kids ready, and take them to school. You go to work and take care of your deposits and ordering merchandise and employee scheduling. You get off work around 3:30, and you head straight to school to pick them back up. Then you help them with homework and get them ready for bed. It's kind of a relief when you close their door around 9:00 and you know you've made it through another day."
Running Cowboy Corner is a family affair for the Gums. Landry and Trevor often help out around the store during the summer to earn extra spending money. Although they enjoy working and playing Little League baseball during the offseason, Gum said the boys are at their happiest when it's basketball season--and he's felt the same way for more than 20 years now.
"I'm not a guy of much change," Gum said. "When I get settled in somewhere, or I find something I have a passion for, I stay with it a long time.
"I've worked with the same guy, Casey Kendrick, for the last 18 years. I've had the luxury of sitting beside the same guy who was a personal friend long before we were broadcast partners. Part of what makes the broadcasting special is that you sit down with a guy that's a dear friend of yours every single ball game. You share the celebrations and the disappointments, and through it all you just wonder where all the years went."
Through all those years, Gum has seen the Cowgirls endure heartbreaking losses and celebrate triumphant victories. His favorite memory is the Jan. 12, 2008, Bedlam game, when Gallagher-Iba Arena was standing-room only. That night marked the first sellout in school history. The game against then-No. 6 Oklahoma was the Cowgirl's first win against a top-10 opponent in almost four years, and former Cowgirl standout Andrea Riley finished the night with a career-high 45 points.
"I had dreamed about that all my life as a Cowgirl broadcaster, seeing so many ball games where we had 1,500 to 2,000 people," Gum said.
"You came in on that night and you could see people literally standing around the walkway because there were no seats left. Then Kurt Budke comes out wearing the orange blazer, and the crowd goes crazy, and Andrea Riley has a night to remember for the ages, and you win the ball game. We won it convincingly, so from about the 5-minute mark of the second half down to the end, you knew it was going to happen, so you could really take it in and soak up the environment.
"I remember after the ball game, Ryan Cameron and I were still in the arena. The boys were playing basketball out on the floor, and we just didn't want to leave. We knew this had been the first time it had been like this, and you never knew if it was going to happen again, and so far it hasn't yet."
Beyond the basketball games, Gum said his favorite part of Cowgirl basketball is getting to know players and coaches on a different level.
"The most fun part of my job is what goes on behind the scenes," Gum said. "It's the relationships you develop with these guys. You see the human side of them. There's a lot of laughing and joking that goes on."
Through 23 years of laughs, hard work, mourning and celebration, one thing has remained constant in Gum's time with Cowgirl basketball: family. Gum has raised his sons on Cowgirl basketball, and, by doing so, has gained a second family in the players and coaching staff.
"It's become a way of life for us," Gum said. "I can't imagine not having it. I never envisioned that once I had kids I would still be able to go and do all the things I get to do and be a part of the program, and have my kids do it with me. That's what makes it special. It's all about family with Oklahoma State."
