Jim Nantz to call his last Final Four for CBS this spring

The 2022-23 college basketball season is right around the corner and this year’s Final Four will be the end of the road for a broadcasting legend.

Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reported on Monday that legendary commentator Jim Nantz will call his last Final Four this spring and will be replaced by Ian Eagle as the play-by-play guy for CBS and Turner Sports.

Nantz has been an institution in sports broadcasting since the 1980’s, and has been the play-by-play man on the Final Four since 1991. His original broadcast partner for the event was Billy Packer, then Clark Kellogg took over, and since 2015 he’s been paired with Grant Hill and Bill Raftery.

The Jim Nantz Award honors the best collegiate sports broadcaster of the year while in undergrad, and Nantz gave away his tie to the best player in the Final Four as part of the festivities for years, a tradition he recently stopped.

The 2023 Final Four will take place from April 1-3 at NRG Stadium in Houston, TX, where Nantz attended the University of Houston where his UH Cougars golf teammate was Fred Couples. A full circle moment for one of the biggest names in the industry.

Nantz’s replacement is the popular Ian Eagle, who already handles some NCAA Tournament coverage, and is the full-time broadcaster for the Brooklyn Nets of the NBA. Eagle is also on NFL duty for CBS, and is one more linguistically-creative minds in the industry.