His full name was Antonio Rocco DiBenedetto. He went by Tony DiBenedetto. Surnames that long don't always work in broadcasting, so you may best remember him by his nom de radio, Tony Davis.

The former radio voice of Durfee High basketball and football, Davis died on Jan. 10. He was 94.

Davis and Matt Kuss were a broadcasting duo for about a decade, in the 1980s and 90s. David did play by play, Kuss the color. Their broadcasts were heard mostly on WALE (now WHTB) but also on WSAR. They were at the microphone for the back-to-back state basketball titles in 1988 and '89.

"Tony was a great guy and a dear friend. His main concern was the student athletes as young people first and athletes after that," Kuss, now living in Florida, wrote in an email. "He never uttered a bad word about any athlete, ever."

Kuss recalled doing the broadcasts for $14 per game. "If you add in the couple hours per game preparation, setting up and dropping off the equipment, it probably came to about 59 cents per hour home games," he wrote.

And half their work was on the road. As far away as Cape Cod, Boston, Newport.

Kuss recalled one particularly challenging broadcast, a Durfee vs. Coyle & Cassidy football game at Hartwell Park in Taunton, in the 1980s. It was pouring rain. There was no press box. They didn't even have umbrellas. They tape recorded the game. "Needless to say we both got bad colds the following week but we were so dedicated to our audiences that we broadcast in all types of weather," Kuss said.

Davis and Kuss also did election night coverage broadcasts.

Davis' radio career finished in the early 1990s. His friendship with Kuss grew deeper.

"Tony truly was and always will be remembered as "The Voice of the Hilltoppers", Kuss said. "He continued his support of Durfee and the students.  A true friend and kind and giving man, he will be missed. It was the privilege of a lifetime for me to work with him and then become his lifelong friend."

Email Greg Sullivan at gsullivan@heraldnews.com. Follow him @GregSullivanHN.