Andy Burcham debuts as Auburn's men's basketball announcer

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AUBURN, Ala. – It's an open date this weekend for Auburn football but not for the Voice of the Auburn Tigers.

Andy Burcham left the Plains Wednesday with Auburn's men's basketball team bound for Annapolis, Maryland, for Friday's 5 p.m. CT game vs. Davidson in the Veterans Classic.

"I'm excited about being able to call all the sports whether it's football now, and basketball, and certainly in the spring with baseball," said Burcham, who took over as Auburn's lead announcer this fall following the death in May of his best friend and baseball broadcast partner, Rod Bramblett.

"I know, for Rod, it was important to him to do all three," Burcham said. "And it was important as well for me to do all three. I've looked forward to calling basketball and working with Sonny. That's a pleasure to work with Sonny Smith and be a part of this crew and now I get to go on my first road trip. That will be a new experience for me anyway."

For 31 seasons, Burcham called Auburn women's basketball, a role that Brit Bowen will now fill.

"Brit will be great," Auburn women's basketball coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said. "He's been here. He's excited. He did a few games last year for us, so we're excited. We're sad because we love Andy, we miss Andy, but it'll be a great opportunity for Brit."

Over the years, Burcham handled play-by-play for a few men's basketball games when Bramblett was unavailable, most recently the season opener in 2013. Tuesday's 83-74 win over Georgia Southern marked his debut as Auburn's primary play-by-play voice for men's basketball.

"There's a little bit of a difference as far as the pace of it," Burcham said. "It took a lot less time to get into the rhythm of a basketball game for me than it did to get into the rhythm of that first football game. I felt like I was going really quickly tonight, which was nice."

During their pregame visit, Burcham and men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl talked about Bramblett on what would have been Rod's 54th birthday, an occasion he shared with his daughter, Shelby, who turned 21 on Tuesday. Fans in Auburn Arena observed a moment of silence before Tuesday's game in honor of Rod and Paula. 

"The very first thing we said was happy birthday to Rod," said Burcham, while walking to the parking lot with his wife, Jan. "I guess it's fitting that this is Rod and Shelby's birthday today, on the opening night of the season. I know how close Rod and Coach got, and how important Rod was, and I felt we needed to acknowledge his birthday. He was obviously very important to us, too."

"Andy and I got together an hour and a half before the game tonight," Pearl said. "We prayed a little bit, talked about Rod, talked about Paula, talked about the legacy that he left. I complimented Andy on the job that he's done and Rod had him prepared for.

"We both miss him. We all miss him. We know he's in a better place. We're going to celebrate him, remember him."

Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer