Big time athletes are often judged by their performances in big games. At the most crucial times and in the most crucial moments, which athletes can rise to the occasion and take their games to the next level? The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament (a.k.a. March Madness) offers broadcasters, like Andrew Catalon, this same opportunity.
With NIL money flowing freely, today’s college basketball players are gravitating to the most storied programs where they can get the most wins, most exposure, and let’s be honest, the most money. Because of this, the 2025 March Madness menu has not offered the usual buffet of grand upsets.
While the tournament has been entertaining, that signature miracle game has not transpired yet. I’m talking about a no-name small school beating one of the giants or a 16 seed taking down a 1 seed.
CBS play by play announcer Andrew Catalon knows what it’s like to call one of these games. Two years ago, he was the broadcast narrator exclaiming “FDU believe it?” when 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson upset number 1 Purdue 63-58. As the tournament moves to the Sweet 16, this year‘s signature game thus far occurred in the round of 32 with number 10 Arkansas taking on 2nd seeded St. John’s in Providence, RI. Catalon was again at the microphone for CBS in this anticipated and hyped matchup.
Meeting The Madness Of Calipari vs Pitino
Much of the fanfare surrounded two of the most successful, controversial, vocal, charismatic, loved, and despised coaches in the history of the game – John Calipari of Arkansas and Rick Pitino of St. John’s. As the cliche goes, you cannot write the history of men’s college basketball without mentioning these two names early and often in the dissertation.
The game also provided Catalon with another chance to step up and be great, and as usual, this prepared and entertaining sportscaster did not disappoint. Catalon has a varied background in broadcasting, and for this game, was paired with former college hoops coach Steve Lappas and sideline reporter Evan Washburn. Ideally, when it comes to important games on television, you want the athletes to be the stars, but in this contest, there was no doubt that Pitino and Calipari shared the spotlight.
When asked about their similarities leading into the game, Pitino said that both he and Calipari are Italian and love basketball, but there is more to it. They both carry a behemoth presence and have jumped from college basketball to the NBA and back. Their failures are as epic as their successes, and their sideline antics resemble circus clowns dressed in $5000 suits.
Catalon and Lappas put this game in perfect perspective during their pregame chit chat. With a vociferous crowd behind them, they recognized the impact of the coaching matchup and set the scene amazingly well. While they spoke, a CBS graphic showed that both Calipari and Pitino are approaching 60 wins in the NCAA Tournament and 900 wins overall as college coaches. Both men have a national championship pedigree, and Calipari is 13-10 all-time versus Pitino.
Catalon Letting The Action On The Court Tell The Story
As the action commenced, Catalon stepped to the forefront. He is a solid, meat and potatoes play-by-play announcer, deftly setting up Lappas and, when necessary, adding his own personality and flavor to the broadcast. Catalon recognizes that this is television. He lets the pictures do the talking and is honest and genuine in his style. Catalon possesses a measured meter of the action. He knows when to turn up the heat and lower the temperature. If you want to watch a seasoned broadcaster adeptly ply his craft, check out a couple of Andrew Catalon games.
Coming back from a break during a hotly contested first half, Catalon summarized the action with the help of a statistical graphic. He then threw to a quick Washburn interview with Pitino talking about what St. John’s needed to do to finish the half strongly. Of course, the CBS production crew featured numerous sideline shots of Calipari and Pitino visually demonstrating the underlying theme of this game.
One of Catalon’s strengths is interjecting statistics while calling the action. With a little under 11 minutes remaining in the first half, he said that St. John’s was just 5 for 21 from the floor and had missed their last seven shots. His voice intonation was beginning to build the story of what would be a disappointing loss for the Red Storm. A great play-by-play announcer sees what is happening. Despite the discrepancy in seedings, Catalon sensed that this would not be a St. John’s cakewalk.
March Madness on both the men’s and women’s side provides the best backdrop for crowd shots and atmosphere. Big time props go out to the CBS production staff for expertly capturing the special atmosphere of this huge college basketball game. While the crowd was loud, one of the best parts of Catalon’s game is silence. He does not feel the need to start gabbing just because the ball has passed the half court line. Late in the first half, he used silence and space as both teams were moving the ball and looking for the best shot. The crowd noise and the bounce of the ball on the court told the story.
Heading Down The Home Stretch
Moving into the second half, Lappas made the astute point that both coaches did a nice job with their teams given the foul trouble on both sides. He also pointed out that while St. John’s was behind in the game, they were the fourth best second half team in the country during the season.
As the game moved into the second half, Catalon, once again recognizing what would become a major story of this game, kept reiterating that RJ Lewis, one of St. John’s best players, was sitting on Rick Pitino’s bench. He also mentioned that three of St. John’s top scorers were a combined 4 for 27 at that point in the game. Statistics can often clutter and overshadow a broadcast, but Catalon knows when to use numbers to back up both his and Lappas’s points. With 9 minutes left in the game, St. John’s cut the Arkansas lead to just six points, and you could sense the building drama in Catalon – his voice bracing for a classic finish.
Like a talented player, Catalon sees the whole floor. He tells viewers which players are about to come in the game, keeps an eye on time, and focuses on the action at hand. As the game’s pace quickened, so did Catalon’s. When it slow down, he brought viewers back to earth.
Lappas, who coached college ball for 17 years, did a nice job of calling attention to the defensive play on both sides of the court while the CBS cameras kept going back to Lewis sitting on the St. John’s bench as his team fell behind by six points with two minutes to go. As the game entered its final seconds, Catalon pointed out that Calipari had not made it to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament since 2019, then he and Lappas remained quiet, letting the images of the crowd as well as both celebratory and dejected players tell the story.
Catalon summed up the pulsating action saying that both teams left it all on the floor on this day. When the final seconds ticked off the clock and Arkansas won the game 75-66, Catalon exclaimed, “From 0-5 in the SEC to the Sweet 16, Arkansas and John Calipari moving on to San Francisco!” It was a terrific ending to a wonderful telecast. With Catalon, Lappas, Washburn, and the CBS crew at the top of their respective games, this matchup turned into a master class of Big Game Basketball Broadcasting 101.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
John Molori is a weekly columnist for Barrett Sports Media. He has previously contributed to ESPNW, Patriots Football Weekly, Golf Content Network, Methuen Life Magazine, and wrote a syndicated Media Blitz column in the New England region, which was published by numerous outlets including The Boston Metro, Providence Journal, Lowell Sun, and the Eagle-Tribune. His career also includes fourteen years in television as a News and Sports Reporter, Host, Producer working for Continental Cablevision, MediaOne, and AT&T. He can be reached on Twitter @MoloriMedia.
