I'm listening to the CBS broadcast of TN vs. Louisiana and it's Kevin Harlan, Dan Bonner, & Stan VanGundy. First, VanGundy can go. He's bad as a commentator and his voice is too abrasive. It's like Doc Rivers calling a game. Second, I'll put Kevin Harlan at the precipice of today's college hoops announcers - above Jim Nance and Bill Raftery. Raftery is hanging on and still doing good work. Nance is solid, but ehh . . . For my $, Harlan has by far the best voice, excellent phrasing, great catch phrases (mentioned a player making a basket in a straight jacket), and can ramp up the excitement w/o manufacturing it.
Slightly off topic; I really didn’t like Billy Packer, who was an ACC fan, and did the two UF runs in their championship seasons. He was a color commentator but was not unbiased when we played Duke or N.C. He did not like us and I believe intentionally mispronounced BD’s name as “DUnavan” I see he passed recently so RIP. One under the radar color man I really liked was former JU coach Bob Wenzel. He was accurate, knowledgeable, and spot on. Not sure why he didn’t get bigger roles.
Tamika Catchings is the best in the business. Wish she did all the games. Pair her up with the shrieker and Beth Mowens. They’d be unstoppable.
