Dave Cohen jokes that he was born to announce Georgia State basketball games.
Cohen was born in 1963, the same year that the Panthers started playing NCAA basketball. Cohen later graduated from Georgia State and began assisting with the radio broadcasts in 1982 before taking over when the Panthers opened the 1983 season against the Canadian National team at the Cobb County Civic Center in 1983. He’s been behind the microphone since.
Cohen, nicknamed “The Voice” by fans, estimates he has called more than 900 games, missing just 10 in his career.
Cohen, along with past players, will be honored when the Panthers (12-13, 7-5, CAA) host Towson (13-12, 8-4 CAA) on Saturday at the Sports Arena.
Because Georgia State is honoring the past, Cohen agreed to give his top-five moments that he’s seen:
Atop Rocky Top
The first signature victory came in 1983 when a winless Georgia State team went to Knoxville and upset Tennessee on a Tony Graham buzzer-beater, 52-50.
"I wish I had recorded the call," Cohen said. "That's the one piece of audio I wish I had."
Rocky Top was the third consecutive road game for Georgia State, which was coming off losses at Oklahoma, which featured Wayman Tisdale, and Southern Methodist, led by future Hawks player Jon Koncak.
"For us to go up there and beat an SEC team in their building … ," Cohen said, his trailing thought actually underscoring the magnitude.
Cohen said that team, had it been coached by Lefty Driesell or Ron Hunter, would have done much better than its 6-22 record.
"It was a very talented starting five," he said. "They were just a victim of their times."
A stomping in Stegeman
Cohen had an inkling that the 2000-01 team was going to be good.
The squad featured Darryl Cooper, Shernard Long, Thomas Terrell and Kevin Morris.
"It was a very experienced team," Cohen said. "It was one of those things where sometimes you wait to get into a season to see how good they were."
He soon found out when the Panthers opened the season defeating Georgia, 91-79.
"It was an eye-opening experience to what the season could be like," he said.
The Panthers went 29-5, won the Trans America Athletic Conference and appeared in the NCAA tournament for the second time in program history
"I can remember driving back (from Athens) with Charlie Taylor and saying 'This could be a fun year,' " he said. "And it was."
First NCAA tournament berth
Cohen said he was never more nervous than at the TAAC tournament in 1991 in DeLand, Fla.
The Panthers were in a bracket in which they could face three teams that beat them six times during the regular season.
The past didn't matter.
The Panthers knocked off Stetson and then Texas-San Antonio to set up the title game against Arkansas-Little Rock, which it had never beaten in 16 previous games.
"I was anxious for us to play the game," he said. "I didn't like all the waiting around. It gave you too much time to think about.
"I'm a Georgia State alum, so it's not like it's just a job," he said. "Emotionally I'm invested, and have been."
The Panthers won by 20 points to clinch the program's first NCAA tournament appearance.
"The sun, the moon and the stars all lined up over Deland," Cohen said.
The first NCAA tourney win
Georgia State has won one game in the NCAA tournament.
It came against Wisconsin in 2001 when Georgia State beat Wisconsin 50-49 in Boise, Idaho.
Few know just how close the Panthers came to losing that game.
Cohen said two plays stand out:
The Badgers were running away from Georgia State when Morris hit a half-court shot at the halftime buzzer to shift the momentum.
Cooper followed in the second half with a four-point play. He followed with a steal and pass to Long, who hit the shot that gave Georgia State its final lead.
"The Wisconsin defender missed getting a hand on it by less than an inch," Cohen said.
Beating Auburn
The last moment didn't have the impact of winning the TAAC or a game in the NCAA tournament, but it was still memorable.
Georgia State headed to Auburn in 2003 and Cohen said he wasn't sure that Tigers fans had any idea who the Panthers were.
"They had those SEC blinders on," he said.
They knew after Georgia State won 77-72, its first victory in six games in the series.
"That was a pretty satisfying win," he said.
