Hilliard Gates

Fort Wayne sportscaster Hilliard Gates grew up with three brothers and was interested in sports his entire life. He attended Muskegon High School and went to junior college in the same town for two years. He played tennis and basketball. During his second year, he found himself interested in writing, reporting and broadcasting.

"I loved to write," he said. "That was the strongest part of my broadcasting in radio. I felt I could feel the impact and write the words that would pass impact along to the readers."

Gates got into broadcasting at his hometown station, WKBZ, Muskegon, Michigan, in 1937. He worked there for three years. His first broadcast was a football game.

"I was nervous," he said. "I didn't think I did a very good job. I didn't take it seriously enough."

In 1940, he was hired to work at WOWO/WGL, Fort Wayne, as a studio announcer and sportscaster, effectively expanding the department. Eldon Campbell was one of Gates' mentors at the time, and the two broadcasters lived together for a time.

"I would say that we [at WOWO] were closer than anything else I've been around to being a family," Gates said.

During World War II, Gates was drafted in 1942. However, he had asthma attacks and hay fever. So the recruiters placed him at an infantry base in South Carolina and he eventually was placed in the special services division at Fort Wayne.

In 1947, he was hired as WKJG station manager and sportscaster. William Kunkel, publisher of the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette had brought him to the station to help manage and be a sports director.

WKJG-TV, the first television station in Fort Wayne, was signed on by Gates in 1953. He later became its vice president and general manager. He broadcast pro basketball games of the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons, Indiana, Purdue, and Notre Dame football, and high school basketball.

"Preparation was my middle name," Gates said. "If I couldn't prepare, I didn't want to do the game."

He was close friends with the coaches of the college teams. In 1967 and 1968, Gates was asked to cover the Rose Bowl for Purdue.

He also covered an NBA All-Star game for the Mutual network. Gates was selected seven times as Indiana Sportscaster of the Year. He even had a small role in the film “Hoosiers,” re-creating the historic finish.

Gates retired from WKJG-TV in 1990 and he died on November 20, 1996.

Luzane Draughon

Information from Indiana Broadcast Pioneers and "In the Public Interest"