This year was Jim Nantz’s final year calling the Final Four for the NCAA Tournament, and there is little doubt about how moved he was by the matter.
Nantz joined CBS in 1985 and has been their lead college basketball announcer since 1990. The 63-year-old is retiring from calling the NCAA Tournament, so Monday night’s final moments were special for him.
Nantz signed off with a play on his signature opening line of “Hello, friends.”
“Thank you for being my friend,” Nantz said.
"Thank you for being my friend"
One final goodbye from Jim Nantz at the #NationalChampionship 👏 pic.twitter.com/mRgtmyQKU8
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) April 4, 2023
Nantz’s voice was shaky as he said that final line, clearly moved by the emotion.
Nantz is still going to be calling the Masters and NFL games for CBS, so you will still hear his voice. But he decided that the responsibility of calling multiple college basketball games over a short period of time was too much and that he would prefer to spend time with his family, so he is retiring from calling NCAA Tournament games.
Nantz decided this was the right time to step away because CBS, his longtime network, had the championship game rather than Turner, and because the Final Four was being held in Houston, where he went to school.
“I wanted it to be a CBS year, but especially I wanted Houston to be my last dance for me and to exit college basketball stage right,” Nantz told the AP last month.
Nantz is hoping his final career broadcasting assignment will be the 100th edition of the Masters, which is scheduled for April 13, 2036.
