Bert Bertelkamp was never the star of the show. But being the consummate role player also has its rewards.

In his heyday on the basketball court at Stokely Athletics Center, Bertelkamp was a complementary player to some of Tennessee's greatest stars.

For the past eight basketball seasons, he's been a colorful radio color man, riding sidekick to Bob Kesling on the Vol Network.

Off the court, Bertelkamp has been a tireless mover and shaker on the community-service front, from Big Brothers/Big Sisters to United Way to the YMCA to Knox Youth Sports.

It all adds up. Bertelkamp will be inducted into the Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame on July 27.

"Some of the exposure I've gotten has helped me help others, and that's really what I feel one of my purposes is,'' said Bertelkamp.

Helping others has been a role he accepted ever since he left Bearden High School and enrolled at UT in 1976 - following in the footsteps of his dad, Hank, a UT captain in 1953.

His career spanned the transition from coaches Ray Mears to Don DeVoe, from the Ernie & Bernie Show to the Vols' first NCAA tournament successes.

"I wasn't a Hall of Fame player,'' Bertelkamp said, "but I felt I was important as far as our team being successful.

"And I was right in the middle of probably the best run Tennessee ever had.

"You couldn't get a ticket to Stokely. Coach Mears made it that way and coach DeVoe carried it on.''

Bertelkamp was a freshman sub on the 1976-77 squad that featured Bernard King, Ernie Grunfeld and a young Reggie Johnson.

"We had three NBA first-rounders,'' Bertelkamp said. "From a talent standpoint, we should have been in the Final Four.''

But it wasn't until his junior year, after DeVoe's arrival, that Bertelkamp played in the school's first NCAA tournament win.

The Vols also won an NCAA game his senior year before losing to Maryland, a game in which Bertelkamp set a school postseason record with 16 assists.

"Ten or 12 of them went to Reggie,'' he said. "They couldn't stop him.''

The only year Bertelkamp averaged scoring in double figures was his sophomore year, when interim coach Cliff Wettig ran the team on behalf of an ailing Mears.

After DeVoe took over, Bertelkamp soon was moved from his natural position, shooting guard, to the point.

"It was tough,'' he said. "I wasn't real quick. But being a team player on a winning team was great.

"I knew I wasn't going to the NBA anyway.''

Instead, he went into the family business. Today, he's president of Bertelkamp Automation, a distributor of industrial equipment used for factory automation.

But he's also well into the second phase of his UT basketball career.

When Kesling replaced John Ward in 1998, he asked Bertelkamp to sign on as color man on the Vol Network.

Bertelkamp worried about the time away from his wife, Sheila, and three children. Family is paramount in Bertelkamp's world.

But the chance to get back in the thick of UT basketball was too good to turn down.

"They told me the three things you cannot do are referee, second-guess our coach or be partisan to Tennessee,'' Bertelkamp said. "I said, 'Well, two of those three I can't say I won't do.'

"I'm definitely going to comment on the refereeing. I'll try my best not to second-guess the coach but I'm doggone sure I'm gonna be pulling for Tennessee.

"I'm sure I've pushed the envelope on all three but I try to be fair.

"Every now and then when I get out of line, Bob kicks me.''

Mike Strange may be reached at 865-342-6276.