Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

Official newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin

The Daily Texan

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October 4, 2022
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Former public address announcer Wally Pryor dies at 86

The former “Voice of the Longhorns,” Wally Pryor, died Saturday at the age of 86. Pryor served as the public address announcer for Texas’ basketball and football programs for nearly 40 years.

The former announcer was known for his sense of humor and constant hijinks over the loud speaker. Among his hijinks, he interspersed scores from a small Pennsylvania college into his Texas annnouncing and told crowds how his good friend, a former mayor of Luckenbach, Texas, needed to once again pick up his drunken grandmother from beer gardens and dance halls.

“Those things were legendary,” Bob Cole, who succeeded Pryor with Big Little in 2000, told the Austin American-Statesman. “Wally had that special gift of not being noticed for anything bad but being able to do some things we could never do.”


Pryor, a Texas alumnus, was named to the Longhorn Men’s Hall of Honor in 1977 for his announcing work, his time on the University’s water polo team, his participation in two Southwest Conference swimming championships and his work as an emcee at numerous university charity events.

His most memorable line may be telling Texas fans storming the field in 1990 to “get those idiots off the goal post.”

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Former public address announcer Wally Pryor dies at 86