Nick Gardner has been the color commentator for Butler men’s basketball radio since 2006. Photo by Faith Delamarter.

SAWYER GOLDWEIN | ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR | sgoldwein@butler.edu 

Since the 2000-01 men’s basketball season, Butler has seen countless players and assistant coaches, six head coaches, three different conferences, three radio play-by-play commentators and three athletic directors. There has only been one constant presence around the program: Butler men’s basketball radio color commentator Nick Gardner. 

After being recruited to a number of Division III schools out of high school, Gardner’s Butler journey started when head coach Thad Matta — then in his first stint at Butler — offered him a spot to walk on to the team. Gardner jumped at the opportunity to play at the Division I level, though it took him some time to feel fully secure in his spot.

“Every day I had to prove myself,” Gardner said. “Everyone else’s name was on a placard permanently on the locker at first, [but] mine was an index card. I felt like I had to play that way every day.”

Gardner gave his all from day one, getting his index replaced with a placard just a few weeks later. He quickly made a positive impression on many people around the program, growing to be a valued part of the team. 

Brandon Crone, the executive director of Butler’s NIL collective All Good Dawgs, is a former teammate and long-time friend of Gardner. Crone took notice of the impact Gardner made on the team in their one season playing together.

“He was always one of the hardest workers in the open gyms,” Crone said. “He was a great teammate, and someone I liked to follow and emulate.”

While Gardner enjoyed his time playing at Butler, he knew that when his four years of eligibility eventually ended, so would his basketball career. Gardner initially thought coaching was his future, but changed his course after realizing that the fast-paced job description and constant movement from school to school was not for him.

Instead, Gardner went to work away from basketball for a couple of years after graduating from Butler. Then, he stumbled into his calling, and it was not what he expected.

“[The job] literally fell into my lap,” Gardner said. “I used to mess around with my buddies when we were playing video games and describe action. But I didn’t take sports media [classes] and I had never called a game before.”

Before the 2006-07 season, the play-by-play and color commentator roles for Butler’s men’s basketball radio team both opened up. After Joe Gentry was hired for the play-by-play role, a variety of names were kicked around for the other opening. To this day, Gardner still does not know how he entered consideration.

“[My former teammate] Joel [Cornette] never told me the story before he passed [away],” Gardner said. “I don’t know if [Cornette] suggested my name, [or] if [former head coach] Todd Lickliter suggested my name, but at some point somebody threw my name out there.”

However it happened, Gardner was put on Gentry’s radar as an option to be his partner. Gardner was hired in September, so with only about two months until the season tipped off he had to start preparing immediately.

“There wasn’t a lot of formal training,” Gardner said. “I’ve listened to sports on the air my whole life, and I’ve been a sports fan as a kid growing up. So in many ways, I feel like I was preparing my whole childhood for that and didn’t even know it.”

With minimal training — and a lifetime worth of watching and learning under his belt — Gardner was ready to start his new career. It did not take long before his nerve was put to the test.

“The first game I ever broadcasted [against] Tulane, the headsets weren’t working,” Gardner said. “We had to pass a handheld microphone back and forth to talk.”

In his first foray into the world of broadcasting, even technical difficulties couldn’t throw off Gardner’s focus. He stayed composed and barely thought anything of it. Granted, it might be fair to credit some of his unflappable nature at that moment to his inexperience.

“Ignorance is bliss,” Gardner said. “You don’t know what you don’t know. Going in kind of blindly worked to my advantage.”

Still, Gardner has continued to put his composure on display during various escapades involving technical issues, including one such incident during a game against the University of Illinois Chicago early in his career. 

The Telex box, which was used to patch Gardner and Gentry through onto the radio, stopped working. So, Gentry pulled out his Motorola Razr flip phone, called into the radio station, and the partners called the game that way. 

Much later in his career, Gardner had another unique broadcasting experience, this time with long-time partner and play-by-play commentator Mark Minner. The two faced a hurdle neither had ever encountered: broadcasting during COVID-19. 

Butler was one of the few schools to allow a limited number of fans — as well as commentators — into the stadium to watch games. However, Minner and Gardner had to wear masks and face shields, making it difficult to call the game. 

In yet another chapter in Gardner’s edition of strange ways to do radio commentary, road games were called via a Zoom link of the game from the home team.

Still, they pushed through the adversity, which Gardner credits to his strong relationship with Minner.

“It was extremely challenging, [but Minner] makes it so easy,” Gardner said. “He’s just an impressive dude. We’re rather egoless broadcasters. We’re going to roll with the punches. We know technical stuff pops up, and we’re going to try to have as much fun with it while making sure we get the broadcast out that we want to do. So, as things come our way that may be challenging, we’re going to try to make the most of it.”

Gardner’s bond with Minner started back when the latter was still a student. Minner listened to Gardner on broadcasts and was impressed with his talent, so he was excited when he finished school and landed the play-by-play role.

“When I graduated and had the opportunity to work with [Gardner] — doing the play-by-play — it was a dream come true,” Minner said. “[Gardner] was helpful in the moments leading up to that, and then over the last 11 or 12 years he’s become one of my best friends.”

Minner not only considers Gardner a close friend but also credits him with being a major part of his growth, particularly when he was starting out as a relatively inexperienced broadcaster. 

“He’s been unwavering in support [of me],” Minner said. “As a younger broadcaster, you’re going to make a ton of mistakes. But being able to help, support, give feedback and make me better, there’s not been one day [or even] one minute where he’s not been completely supportive.”

Gardner’s supportive nature is just one of many traits that make him a talented relationship builder. Gardner has garnered a reputation for his people skills, something that helps him navigate his many roles in life.

“There’s a common theme to Nick, and it’s people and relationships,” Minner said. “He’s as good as they come at building, strengthening and maintaining those relationships. He’s somebody people want to be around, he’s somebody who people trust, and he’s an all-time teammate, both as a friend, as a broadcaster and Butler alum and in his professional world as well.”

The professional side, Minner mentioned, is Gardner’s day job as a financial advisor at West Point Financial Group. While he enjoys his finance job, he never would have guessed it was in his future, much like he could not have predicted his broadcasting career.

“If you told me 10 years ago that I [would be] a financial advisor, I would have laughed,” Gardner said. “I’d be like, ‘No, I’m not. No way. Your crystal ball is wrong.’”

The culture at West Point is a large part of what Gardner enjoys about his finance job. A positive work culture seems to follow Gardner, and it is no coincidence. He oozes good vibes and does all the little things to help the program, even when he doesn’t have to.

“I worked as director of basketball operations [at Butler] for six years,” Crone said. “Nick traveled with us on all the road trips. He was one of the first [on] every single trip to ask what was needed. ‘You know, what can I do to help?’ His servanthood was just next level. I mean, he was [the] first to grab hotel keys with me and start passing [them] out to players. He’s the first to grab Normatecs off the bus. He was the first to help pass out food. He didn’t have to do any [of that].”

Gardner does this simply out of love and care, a common pattern intertwined in his life. He loves Butler basketball, he loves his jobs and he loves building relationships. But above all else, he loves his family. 

Gardner’s wife and three sons are all supportive of his journey, and Gardner feels as though he cannot do it without them. In fact, throughout nearly 20 years of being on the microphone, Gardner’s commitment to the gig has wavered for only one reason: family.

“I started this [job] two years removed from college as a single guy,” Gardner said. “I got married in 2011 [and] started having kids in 2014. The only thing that ever made me think about quitting was being away from the kids and trying to make sure my wife can navigate that.”

Gardner and his family stuck with it though. He has been a part of three Butler programs that have gone to Sweet Sixteens, as well as the famous back-to-back national championship appearances in 2010 and 2011. He has seen coaches get fired and hired, players graduate and transfer and other staff members come and go. Despite all the changes around him, he has remained a Bulldog throughout all of it.

Reflecting on his time calling Hinkle Fieldhouse home, Gardner feels fortunate to have been a part of the program for so many years and understands that as his tenure lengthens, his role and presence continue to become more and more important.

“I treasure my time here and those relationships and I do feel a responsibility to those guys,” Gardner said. “[I feel a responsibility to] those former players, those people who have put so much blood, sweat and tears into this place, to be a communicator and a connector, and a guy who can help bridge some of these different generations and groups and teams. We are all way more connected than we think, and the strength of Butler is in those people.”

While Gardner was hired to simply speak into a microphone and analyze basketball games, his impact has been so much more than that. The way he has not only embraced his role but also gone above and beyond to help the program and the people around him has earned him admiration from all of his peers.

“You look over the last 24 years and the one constant has been Nick,” Minner said. “Coaches have changed over, players have changed over. He has the same level of passion today that he did when he wore the jersey [and] that he did when he was starting out broadcasting. His former teammates love him. Former players who didn’t play with him love him and respect him. Fans love him and respect him. Coaches [and] administrators [love and respect him]. He is an ambassador for Butler and he bleeds blue.”