Tennessee basketball hosts Duke Sunday night in an exhibition game that will serve as the unofficial start to the 2025-26 basketball season. It will mark the beginning of a new era for the Vol Network as Mike Keith steps in as the Voice of Vol basketball.
The Vol Network announced the broadcast crew that will join Keith at the scorer’s table this season Thursday. Former players Chris Lofton and Steve Hamer as well as John Wilkerson will make up Tennessee basketball’s radio broadcast team.
“We look forward to hearing this new Vol Network crew on the air calling another great season of Tennessee basketball,” Tennessee Chief Marketing Officer Alicia Langworth said in a statement. “All four members of the broadcast team are well-known to Vol Nation and bring significant credentials to the position. We have no doubt Mike Keith, John Wilkerson, Chris Lofton and Steve Hamer will carry on the rich tradition of stellar Vol Network basketball broadcasts and that fans will love listening to their calls.”
Wilkerson will fill in for Keith as the play-by-play announcer when the football and basketball schedule conflict. He will also be part of a rotation of analyst along with Lofton and Hamer. Tennessee plans to have one color commentator with Keith for every game.
The Vol Network also plans to have Lofton travel with Keith and be the color commentator for the NCAA Tournament. Lofton lives in east Kentucky which will make it difficult for him to be at every game while both Hamer and Wilkerson reside in Knoxville.
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Hamer is not entirely new to the role. Bert Bertelkamp did not travel for every road trip in his final years as the color commentator. Hamer often times filled in for Bertelkamp on the road alongside former Voice of the Vols Bob Kesling. He also has served as the color commentator on SEC Network+ broadcasts.
Lofton is one of the best players in program history. A two-time consensus All-American and SEC Player of the Year, Lofton’s jerseys are in the rafters at Thompson Boling-Arena at Food City Center. The shooting guard helped revive Tennessee basketball under Bruce Pearl and averaged 20.8 points per game in his fantastic junior season.
Hamer played at Tennessee from 1993-96 where he twice earned All-SEC honors. The 7-foot center averaged 18.2 points and 9.4 rebounds in his senior year before the Boston Celtics selected him in the second round of the 1996 NBA Draft.
Wilkerson is the Voice of Vol baseball on the radio and a Vol Network veteran. He worked with Keith calling Tennessee baseball on the radio in the ’90s before Keith left to be the Voice of the Tennessee Titans.
Expectations are again high for the 2025-26 Tennessee basketball team. The Vols face Duke in an exhibition game Sunday before opening up the regular season on Monday, Nov. 3 against Mercer.
