Chris Roberts, former voice of UCLA basketball, football, dead at 74

Longtime UCLA broadcaster Chris Roberts has died at his Glendora home from complications of Parkinson’s disease, the university announced Saturday.

He was 74.

Roberts died peacefully Friday morning, the school said.

A native of Alhambra, Roberts began working for the Bruins in 1992. He served as the voice of UCLA football for 23 seasons and called 16 bowl games, including the Bruins’ Rose Bowl appearances on Jan. 1, 1994 and Jan. 1, 1999.

Roberts also broadcast the men’s basketball team through 19 trips to the NCAA Tournament during his tenure. Most notably, he called the Bruins’ memorable run to the 1995 NCAA Tournament Championship that culminated in an 89-78 title-game victory over Arkansas at the Kingdome in Seattle.

With his final season with the Bruins in 2014-15, Roberts equaled Fred Hessler’s mark as the longest tenured play-by-play broadcaster in UCLA history.

Roberts grew up in Baldwin Park, and played football, basketball and baseball at Baldwin Park High School and later played baseball at Cal Poly Pomona. His broadcasting career started at KCIN in Victorville, and he also spent time on the air at KREO in Indio and KWOW in Pomona.

Prior to securing the UCLA gig, he served as the play-by-play voice for Long Beach State for 10 years.

Roberts also authored two books: “Stadium Stories: UCLA Bruins” and “UCLA Football Vault,” which he co-wrote with Bill Bennett.

He was a four-time Golden Mike Award winner and a Hall of Fame member in the Southern California Sports Broadcasters Association.

In addition to his broadcasting career, Roberts also worked in real estate and was the junior varsity baseball coach at Glendora High School.

Roberts is survived by his wife Ann LaPeer, son David LaPeer and daughter-in-law Yvette LaPeer, daughter Nichole Hijon-LaPeer, son-in-law Octavio Hijon and grandchildren Andrés, Santiago and Carmen, UCLA officials said.

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