The Utah Jazz announced during the NBA Draft that the team had come to terms for a new five-year contract for veteran play-by-play announcer Rod Hundley.

A three-year All-American at West Virginia where he earned the nickname 'Hot Rod' for his flamboyant playing style, Hundley was the first pick in the 1958 NBA College Draft by the Minneapolis Lakers. He played six seasons for the Lakers, earning All-Star honors in 1959-60 and 1960-61, before retiring following the 1962-63 season.

In 1982 he was named to the NCAA's silver anniversary All-America team, an award given to former collegiate athletes who achieve success in life after their basketball careers. He is a member of the State of West Virginia Hall of Fame and a 1992 inductee of the West Virginia University Hall of Fame.

Hundley, the only announcer the Jazz has ever had, will begin his 27th season providing play-by-play for Jazz games on radio and television this coming season.

Prior to being the voice of the New Orleans Jazz in 1974, Hundley worked two seasons for the Los Angeles Lakers and five seasons for the Phoenix Suns. He announced five years for CBS-TV, including four All-Star Games, and called two All-Star Games on ABC Radio. PSR's George Von Benko caught up with Hundley recently and put him on the clock.

PSR: You were known as a great entertainer as a player, but we have seen an increase in on court and on field antics in sports, is that good or bad?

RH: They've gone too far I think. There's a thin edge when you're doing things like that and they went over the line I believe. This is a big business , professional sports, it's not like it's a kids' game and that's part of promotion and you don't do those kind of things. It turns fans off and it's kind of childish at the same time.

PSR: How would you have reacted to the kind of rules they have today?

RH: I always had respect for the game. I never tried to do any of the stuff these guys do with pulling out your shirt. The way they look and some of the things they do are ridiculous. Again it goes back to respect for the sport you're playing. I clowned around a lot in college and in fact I even did it in the pros once in a while, but not often because I knew I had to face these guys and they're making a living. You don't want to try and disrupt a player or make somebody look bad by clowning around with them, but in college basketball you would only see them maybe once or twice and I didn't try to make anybody look bad. I just tried to entertain the crowd. Pete Maravich did it the right way. He just ball handled, it was his type of game. The Maravich-style: we need that kind of player.

PSR: The U.S.lost the Gold in the Olympics, do you like the style of basketball that's being played now?

RH: I think the zone defense has hurt the pro game. There's too much emphasis put on dunking the basketball. I think the people that have hurt basketball, and I don't mean this to just single out ESPN, but all television, and they're one of the leaders with 'SportsCenter' and all they put on there is guys hitting the three point shot or a dunk. And young kids see that and that's the way they're coming up today, and that's the way they're playing the game of basketball and it's not right. They are taking away the cleverness of basketball, handling the ball, passing the ball, if you don't dunk the ball you're nobody. I think that's all wrong.

PSR: What about team play, it was apparent in the Olympics that the U.S. plays too much one-on-one. Do you think that's a fair assessment?

RH: It's all individual play and we're hurting. I think the zone defense has hurt basketball because the guys can't show what they can do. Also they're not working on their shots, they don't worry about taking a shot and they can't shoot. Our percentages are down and the outside shot is not there.

PSR: You just signed on to broadcast for five more years, what keeps you going?

RH: I'll be 70 in October and I feel good and I feel healthy. I love doing it, it keeps you young, forget your looks I'm talking about your heart. It keeps your heart young being around these young kids and I'm still in the game and it's fun. I don't want to retire and just sit around and have nothing to do.