Ian Eagle moves into top spot on NCAA Tournament broadcast team
Bill Raftery said of Ian Eagle as lead announcer, “I had this feeling that this was going to happen to him . . ." Credit: Newsday/William Perlman
Jim Nantz has called the past 32 Final Fours, so in one sense having Ian Eagle do that job this season represents a big change.
But to Eagle, his colleagues and likely most viewers, the transition figures to be seamless, given what a familiar presence Eagle has been for decades.
“In normal circumstances, this might feel like this is going to be a completely different role, a completely new position,” Eagle said Tuesday on a video news conference to promote the NCAA Tournament.
“But in many ways, it doesn’t feel that way at all because of all the shared experiences with Raf (Bill Raftery) and Grant (Hill) and Tracy (Wolfson).”
Raftery, in particular, goes way back with Eagle, to when Eagle worked his first NBA telecast as a Nets play-by-play man in the mid-1990s.
That era featured some awful Nets teams, which Raftery considered a valuable experience and testing ground for a young announcer.
“The challenge every night of a team that’s underwater, maybe 15-40, and then to tee it up every night with the same enthusiasm and preparation,” Raftery said, “I had this feeling that this was going to happen to him, and he certainly has worked hard to attain this status.”
Raftery said of the transition from Nantz to Eagle, “We’re going to be going from five-star restaurants to Five Guys. That will be the big difference.”
Raftery called Eagle “one of the classiest, most talented guys in the business.” But with Nantz as CBS’ lead voice, Eagle's opportunity to call events of this magnitude has been limited.
“Beyond excited, obviously, for this,” he said, then added one of his trademark quips. “The little kid in me, 1979, watching (Larry) Bird vs. Magic (Johnson) and then dreaming of one day being on a webinar to discuss it like this, overwhelming in many ways.”
But seriously, folks . . . “It’s just fantastic to be a part of it,” he added, “and just great to be part of a team that are close friends and people that I have a lot of chemistry and familiarity with because we’ve all worked together and known each other for so long.”
Eagle said of Raftery, “As likable as Bill is on the air, it doesn’t even compare to who he is off the air, because he’s about the most welcoming person I’ve ever dealt with in my life, sports-wise and in general . . . It really is going to feel very seamless.”
As usual, CBS and TNT Sports — formerly known as Turner Sports and then Warner Bros. Discovery Sports — will share the tournament coverage. This season the Final Four will be seen on TBS.
With Eagle moving up to the No. 1 team, Andrew Catalon and Steve Lappas will get a regional final. The other regional finals teams will be Brian Anderson/Jim Jackson and Kevin Harlan/Dan Bonner/Stan Van Gundy.
Longtime studio host Greg Gumbel will miss the tournament for what CBS called a family health issue. Ernie Johnson will be the lead New York-based studio host.
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
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