Longtime college basketball broadcaster Billy Packer, who worked 34 Final Fours for NBC and CBS, died Thursday at the age of 82, according to a tweet from his son.
“The Packer Family would like to share some sad news,” tweeted his son Mark, who hosts a show on the ACC Network. “Our amazing father, Billy, has passed. We take peace knowing that he’s in heaven with Barb. RIP, Billy.”
Later in the night, Mark told The Associated Press that his father had been hospitalized in Charlotte, N.C. for the past three weeks and had several medical issues, and ultimately succumbed to kidney failure.
Packer — who in 1993 received a Sports Emmy for Outstanding Sports Personality, Studio and Sports Analyst — worked with many of the top play-by-play broadcasters of his era, including Curt Gowdy, Dick Enberg, Brent Musburger and Jim Nantz.
In 1972, Packer began his broadcasting career in Raleigh, N.C. He made his leap to the national level at NBC in 1974 and remained there until 1981.
Packer, who inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008, was also part of the announce crew in 1979 with Dick Enberg and Al McGuire when Magic Johnson’s Michigan State team defeated Larry Bird’s Indiana State squad in the title game.
That game remains the most-watched game in basketball history, with a 21.1 Nielsen rating and an estimated 35.1 million viewers. Packer moved on to CBS in the fall of 1981, when the network acquired the rights to the NCAA Tournament. He remained the network’s primary analyst until the 2008 Final Four. He called every NCAA men’s basketball tournament, including the Final Four, from 1975 to 2008.
“He really enjoyed doing the Final Fours,” Mark Packer told The Associated Press. “He timed it right. Everything in life is about timing. The ability to get involved in something that, frankly, he was going to watch anyway, was a joy to him. And then college basketball just sort of took off with Magic Johnson and Larry Bird and that became, I think, the catalyst for college basketball fans to just go crazy with March Madness.”
Sean McManus, the chairman of CBS Sports, said Packer was “synonymous with college basketball for more than three decades and set the standard of excellence as the voice of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.”
“He had a tremendous impact on the growth and popularity of the sport.” McManus said. “In true Billy fashion, he analyzed the game with his own unique style, perspective and opinions, yet always kept the focus on the game. As passionate as he was about basketball, at his heart Billy was a family man. He leaves part of his legacy at CBS Sports, across college basketball and, most importantly, as a beloved husband, father and grandfather. He will be deeply missed by all.”
Dick Vitale also tweeted his condolences.
“So sad to learn of the passing of Billy Packer who had such a passion for college basketball. My [prayers] go out to Billy’s son @MarkPacker & the entire Packer family. Always had great RESPECT for Billy & his partners Dick Enberg & Al McGuire-they were super. May Billy RIP.”
Packer also wrote multiple books. One of his best known was the memoir “Hoops: Confessions of a College Basketball Analyst” in 1985.
Before Packer became a nationally-recognized analyst, he had a solid three-season playing career at Wake Forest, helping lead the Demon Deacons reach the 1962 Final Four.
Packer, who was known for his hot takes, sometimes courted controversy.
He apologized for calling Allen Iverson a “tough monkey” in 1996, saying he meant no racial overtones with the comment. He also expressed remorse and was sorry for making sexist comments toward two female Duke students in 2000 for saying they shouldn’t have been checking press passes at a men’s basketball game.
— with AP
