Howard Baum, NC State’s in-game statistician for nearly 60 years, dies at 92

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N.C. State sports broadcasts are going to have a different feel to them moving forward, at least behind the scenes.

Howard Baum, who for more than 50 years has been the Wolfpack’s official in-game broadcast statistician, has died, his family confirmed Thursday. He was 92.

Baum has served as the statistician for multiple Wolfpack sports programs since the 1960s, primarily assisting Wolfpack Sports Radio operations.

“A life well lived and a gentle soul that helped thousands,” Baum’s daughter, Nancy Schenk, wrote on Facebook. “The second picture was around 8 p.m. last night, singing the N.C. State fight song one last time! Fittingly, ‘Go State,’ were some of his last coherent words.”

Schenk’s post features more than 100 expressions of sympathy and numerous stories from his time with N.C. State — and local bowling groups.

Baum owned B&B Bowling Lanes in Fayetteville — he was a proud promoter of the sport — and first connected with former N.C. State play-by-play announcer Bill Jackson through the association.

Jackson attended the Bowling Proprietors Association summer convention in the 1960s, Baum told the N.C. State Alumni Association in 2024. The two developed a relationship, and Jackson contacted Baum in 1967 requesting him to be a spotter during football games.

He offered Baum $10 per game, a parking pass and a free meal in the press box, Baum told the university alumni association in 2024. He also shared the anecdote with the News & Observer in a 2008 interview.

“That sounded like a good deal, so I thought about it for 10 seconds and that was that. … I started working a few games with TV when they needed a local guy to do stats in basketball,” Baum said in his university interview. “After the 1982 basketball season, I just did radio. I take one game off every year for our anniversary cruise with my wife, but otherwise, I’ve been at every game.”

During Baum’s time, he worked with a number of radio hosts, including Tony Haynes and Gary Hahn, both of whom have since retired. He called his role, in his N&O interview, “merely a hobby. “

He tallied, calculated and fed Hahn information throughout the game, such as yardage and scoring droughts.

“He makes me sound like a genius,” Hahn said in 2008. “He has a sharp mind [and] is the most incredible statistician I’ve ever worked with. They send the stat crew to check with Howard to see if everything jived. That’s how good the guy is.”

“It keeps my mind active, and I enjoy what I’m doing,” Baum said.

Baum was present for the 1983 men’s basketball national championship and the 2024 ACC Tournament and Final Four run.

“We proved something to people,” Baum told a local Greensboro TV station. “It was a miracle, a miracle finish, and I’ve seen a lot of good finishes.”

The men’s basketball program honored Baum in March, during its regular season finale, joining the senior day festivities.

No details have yet been released about a memorial service. Baum’s passing is the third in short succession for the Wolfpack basketball family, which has also recently lost N.C. State men’s basketball players Cozell McQueen and Vic Molodet.

This story was originally published August 27, 2026 at 4:51 PM with the headline “Howard Baum, NC State’s in-game statistician for nearly 60 years, dies at 92.”