This year, we’ll hear the familiar “hello friends” from the great Jim Nantz for the final time at the Final Four. Back in October it was announced that Nantz would be stepping away from calling the Final Four, a role he’s held since 1991. Ian Eagle will take over starting with next year’s tournament. It will certainly take some getting used to, so it’s that much more important to enjoy this tournament, and Nantz while college basketball fans still can.
The schedule he kept had to be grueling. Going from the NFL playoffs and maybe a Super Bowl in February, to March Madness and then to the Masters in April. Quite the trifecta huh? The daily double he’s keeping is still quite the endeavor, but now he’ll be able to get in a nice break between his seasons.
Not to sound cheesy, but this really is the end of an era. Nantz ruled the roost in a way that only a few before him ever did. He means so much to the CBS coverage of the NCAA Tournament that it’s hard to imagine him not being a part of it after this season.
CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus told the assembled media on a recent Zoom call, that there are mixed emotions when it comes to Nantz’s last tournament. McManus knows what Nantz means to their college hoops coverage.
“It’s a bittersweet tournament for us,” he said. “This is Jim’s 32nd, if you can believe it, Final Four and championship game as lead play-by-play announcer. His first was in 1991 with Billy Packer. Jim, as everyone on this call knows, has meant so much to the game of college basketball, to CBS Sports, and to the growth in popularity of this great event.”
For many people, Nantz is the only voice they’ve ever known to call these meaningful March games. There is something comforting turning on the television during March Madness and seeing and hearing Nantz. It’s like, the two go hand in hand.
Jim Nantz has such a command over the broadcast of the Final Four. He’s so comfortable in that chair and it comes through in the broadcast. He weaves in stories about players and coaches, like a perfectly run offense. Nantz defers to his analysts like a good ‘captain’ of a team would. You can tell how important it is for him to make Grant Hill and Bill Raftery an integral part of the broadcast. It really works.
On that last point, Hill knows how important a good play-by-play man is to his success and the broadcast’s success. Hill agrees with McManus’ assessment of this being a bittersweet tournament with Nantz’s looming exit.
“To fast-forward to the last seven to eight years, to work with him, to really get to know him, to consider him a friend…this month, it’s always special.” Hill said on that same conference call. “As Sean alluded to, it’s bittersweet; our friend, our leader, our mortar, the guy I feel kind of keeps this whole thing together and has done it so eloquently and masterfully and respectfully for so long, it’s crazy. It’s still surreal that it’s come to an end.”
Hill can empathize with Nantz on the finality of things. As a former college athlete of note, he tried to adjust his thinking knowing it was his final tournament all those years ago with Duke.
“I just wanted to enjoy every minute. And I think that’s my approach to his last run, and hopefully Jim and the others will just cherish every minute, every game, every late night watching games, dinners, all of that, all of the magic that exists for us to be able to work with Jim Nantz.” Hill said. “It’s truly something like that moment walking out of Charlotte Coliseum; I’ll have many moments that I’ll cherish, and that will stick with me for the rest of my life.”
This Final Four will be special for many reasons. Because it’s in Houston the storyline pretty much writes itself. Jim Nantz could have the opportunity to call a Final Four or a Championship game that involves his alma mater, the University of Houston. He learned the game from legendary Cougars Coach Guy Lewis. Nantz used to attend practices with the group known as Phi Slamma Jamma, that included Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon. As a student, Lewis, served as an early mentor and one of the reasons that Nantz got involved in broadcasting.
“A lot of people don’t know that the basketball program really was my entrance into the business. I was completely tied to the Houston basketball program, more than anything else, to get me launched.” Nantz said. “Back as a kid, I was the public address announcer, I was the host of the Guy Lewis Show, our Hall of Fame coach, his television show that ran on the NBC affiliate. I was just a kid living in the dorms.”
Nantz said calling his former UH golf teammate and roommate Fred Couples’ 1992 Masters victory was his favorite career memory. He said UH winning a national title in his final game would be “one of the top two moments of my career.”
McManus knows if that scenario played out, Nantz would be a pro and remain objective. He did add, “If the Houston Cougars happened to be in Houston on that weekend, that would be a pretty cool storyline for Jim.”
Getting ready for a moment like this can’t be easy. Even though Nantz will still have a high profile on CBS, this tournament was a big part of his career. Certainly, emotions will be running high. Who could really blame him or anyone else?
In an exclusive CBS interview, Nantz explained how he might be feeling just before he says, “Goodbye friends.”
“When that one shining moment farewell piece plays on that Monday night, I think it’s the lock of the year that I’ll have tears streaming down my face. But they’ll be tears of gratitude for being able to be entrusted with it for so long and have had a front-row seat to so many special moments.”
The shining moments in Jim Nantz’s time doing the Final Four are too numerous to count. He enters this his final tournament as a no doubt number one seed.
Andy Masur is a columnist for BSM and works for WGN Radio as an anchor and play-by-play announcer. He also teaches broadcasting at the Illinois Media School. During his career he has called games for the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres and Chicago White Sox. He can be found on Twitter @Andy_Masur1 or you can reach him by email at Andy@Andy-Masur.com.
