There will be a familiar narrator for Friday night’s exhibition basketball game between Hawaii and 23rd-ranked Saint Mary’s in SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

Bobby Curran, who has made a successful recovery from a double-lung transplant, is set to be the play-by-play announcer for 1420-AM’s broadcast of the charity game benefiting Maui relief. It will be Curran’s first time calling a sporting event since the women’s title game of the Big West Basketball Tournament on March 12, 2022.

“It’s pretty cool,” Curran said. “I’m ready to go.”

Curran also had announced UH football games for 32 years through November 2021 before he was diagnosed with emphysema, a potentially life-threatening ailment that leads to labored breathing and lung damage. Curran was a long-time smoker before quitting 19 years ago.

Curran’s condition was first exacerbated when he experienced oxygen-intake problems a couple of hours ahead of the UH football team’s road game against Nevada on Oct. 16, 2021. His oxygen saturation that day was 83% — a reading below 92% is considered problematic. He was hospitalized during that game, but returned for the final six broadcasts of the season. He also was the play-by-play announcer for the UH men’s basketball team during the 2021-22 season.

But after being told he needed a double-lung transplant, Curran underwent surgery on Nov. 17, 2022, in Phoenix.

He returned to the airwaves as host of the “Bobby Curran Show” this past July 24. For now, Curran’s show runs weekdays from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. The hope is it will expand to the pre-surgery, three-hour slot as his health improves.

But Curran received notes from three physicians that cleared him to resume play-by-play duties for UH men’s basketball broadcasts this season. He said his oxygen saturation is regularly at 98% or 99%.

He said he will travel with the ’Bows on road trips. “I’m going to fly with the team so I don’t have to get off the plane at 5 in the morning and drive six hours to Bakersfield. Now I’m going to get off the plane with the guys, hop on the bus, and go to sleep.”

Curran said his daily routine is to take at least one three-hour walk on the beach. “Walking is incredibly important,” he said.

At a recent basketball practice in Gym II, Curran was greeted by the coaches and seniors Noel Coleman, JoVon McClanahan, Bernardo da Silva and Juan Munoz.

“Those guys set the tone, and they made sure the other guys said ‘hello,’” Curran said. “It’s a beautiful time when I go to practice. It seems like I never left, and that’s how I’m treated.”

OUTRIGGER CHARITY BASKETBALL INVITATIONAL

>> Who: Hawaii vs. No. 23 Saint Mary’s

>> When/where: 7 p.m. Friday in SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center

>> Tickets: $20 (adults), $10 (ages 4 through high school)

>> Benefit: Net proceeds go to Maui relief.