NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Every broadcast will begin with, "hello, friends,” just as Jim Nantz has begun most of his broadcasts over his nearly four-decade career.
What started as a subtle nod to his beloved father during a golf broadcast in 1986 has become a friendly welcome to the most important college broadcasts every season.
But on April 3 in Houston, Nantz will sign off as the lead voice of CBS’s NCAA Tournament coverage for the final time.
“I want someone else to get the chance to call a Final Four,” Nantz said during an interview in a Nashville production studio this week. “This will be my 32nd championship call. Before me, the record was six. Brent Musburger and Dick Enberg. I’ve been more than blessed.”
Nantz’s voice is synonymous with some of the greatest moments in college basketball history. He has called epic buzzer-beaters like Jalen Suggs’ half court bank shot that lifted Gonzaga to the national championship game in 2021 and Kris Jenkins’ legendary buzzer-beater to win the national title for Villanova in 2016.
He has been at the mic for legendary upsets including Lehigh’s 15 over 2 stunner of Duke in 2012 and the first ever 16 seed to upset a one seed when Maryland Baltimore County took down Virginia in 2018.
But Nantz is ready to step aside after 37 years sitting courtside for the Madness. While he plans to continue calling other sports for CBS, the 63-year-old Nantz is ready to lighten his schedule just slightly to allow him to spend more time in Nashville where he moved his family a couple of years ago.
“I wanted more time with my kids,” Nantz said. “I wanted more time in Tennessee. I made the decision in 2021 to do one more (broadcast) cycle so it would be back on CBS. I wanted to say my goodbye to the tournament on a CBS year, and then coupled with the fact that it was going to be in Houston, my gateway place into the business, it was a natural place for me to say, ‘this is it.’”
After getting his broadcasting start as the public address announcer for Houston basketball, Nantz has become one of the most distinguished voices in sports. He calls all of CBS’s golf events, including the Masters and is the lead play-by-play voice for the NFL on CBS where he will go the Super Bowl next year in Las Vegas.
But Nantz is as much known for his iconic basketball calls as anything else. And while he says there are too many incredible shots and games to detail, two championship game moments stand out above the rest.
Nantz says Jenkins’ buzzer-beater, a shot that was in the air when the buzzer sounded and clinched a Villanova title when it splashed through the net, and Butler star Gordon Hayward’s near miss on a half-court heave at the buzzer against Duke six years earlier are the two plays that stand out above the rest.
“The thrill of victory by Villanova in 2016 at the buzzer and then the agonizingly close defeat at the buzzer by Gordon Hayward and Butler in 2010,” Nantz said without hesitation. “Those are the two that stand out, but there are so many others.”
Nantz noted Duke’s back-to-back championships in his first two years calling the Final Four and Chris Webber’s errant timeout call in 1993 among some of the other great memories in tournament history.
But now as the clock ticks down on his final tournament, Nantz says he will end his last Final Four on the court, arm in arm with his oldest daughter watching One Shining Moment in the arena for the final time.
It’s become a father-daughter tradition that he cherishes. And this year will be extra special as he stands there full of gratitude for all the moments he’s been given the opportunity to shine over the years in a career that’s far surpassed even his wildest dreams.
“Health, happiness, friendship, family and I’m really grateful for the opportunity to live out a childhood dream,” Nantz said. “None of this is entitled. I am so blessed and grateful.”
