Sports

Raftery, Grant Hill to Call Final Four in Place of Anthony

Published

8 years ago

February 4, 2015

In this Nov. 23, 2014, file photo, Duke great Grant Hill talks about his career during a National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame induction event in Kansas City, Mo. Bill Raftery and Grant Hill will call the Final Four this season, taking the place of the suspended Greg Anthony to work alongside play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz, CBS and Turner Sports said Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015. (AP Photo/Colin E. Braley, File)

RACHEL COHEN, AP Sports Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Bill Raftery called the regional final when Grant Hill led Duke to the 1994 Final Four. The All-American couldn’t help but greet him with one of the announcer’s signature phrases — simply because it’s fun to say “with a kiss” even when no bank shot is involved.

More than two decades later, Raftery and Hill are going back to the Final Four together. The popular veteran and the promising rookie are taking the place of the suspended Greg Anthony for the broadcasts of the NCAA semifinals and national championship game.

Raftery and Hill will work as analysts alongside play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz, CBS and Turner Sports said Tuesday. Anthony was suspended for the rest of the season Jan. 17 after he was arrested in Washington on charges he solicited a prostitute.

Raftery has been telling fans defenses are in “man-to-man” or that a player’s clutch shot took “onions” for more than three decades during the NCAA tournament. But this is his first Final Four for TV after 23 years of handling the radio call.

The 71-year-old Raftery said he hadn’t thought much over the years about the chance to call a Final Four on television. But now that he’s been afforded the opportunity, he added, “It’s quite a thrill.”

And Raftery looks forward to getting more in-depth with his analysis on TV.

“On radio, you’re a bump in the road for the play-by-play guy,” he said.

Hill, meanwhile, didn’t start doing NBA games until this season and will be making his college basketball debut for Saturday’s Duke-Notre Dame game on CBS that will bring him back to Cameron Indoor Stadium.

“I feel like I’ve come a long way,” he said, “and apparently so did Turner.”

The 42-year-old Hill reached three Final Fours and won two national championships with the Blue Devils, when he took part in two plays that still get replayed every March. There was his gravity-defying alley-oop from the 1991 title game, and what may be the most memorable moment in the history of March Madness: Hill made the three-quarters-of-the-court pass that Christian Laettner caught to hit the winning shot in the 1992 regional final against Kentucky.

Hill played 19 seasons in the NBA, making seven All-Star teams, before retiring and joining Turner Sports in 2013. He was a studio analyst during last year’s NCAA tournament.

Anthony called his first Final Four last season after swapping spots with Clark Kellogg, who moved back to the studio show. He and Nantz were in a three-man booth with Steve Kerr. Kerr left broadcasting in the offseason for an NBA coaching gig with the Golden State Warriors, creating a potential opening on the Final Four team even before Anthony’s suspension.

Billy Packer worked every Final Four from 1975 to 2008 before Kellogg took over in 2009. Kellogg held the job for five years, with Kerr joining in 2011 when CBS and Turner started their partnership.

Hill remembers Raftery’s calls back during the heyday of the Big East in the 1980s when the future ACC star was growing up in Northern Virginia. The former Seton Hall coach has worked for CBS Sports since 1983 and spent more than three decades at ESPN, before following the reconfigured Big East to Fox for last season.

Raftery hopes his experience in a successful three-man booth on ESPN with Sean McDonough and Jay Bilas prepared him well for the new partnership. Raftery and Hill will work alongside Nantz and sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson for the first time for the Big Ten tournament semifinals March 14 on CBS.

The NCAA semifinals in Indianapolis are April 4 on TBS and the national championship game is April 6 on CBS.

Back when Raftery called that 1994 regional final between Duke and Glenn “Big Dog” Robinson’s Purdue team, he already knew Hill was the sort of guy who could someday call a Final Four as a novice announcer.

“Nothing he does or will do surprises me,” Raftery said.

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Bay Area

New Women’s Pro Soccer Team Coming to Bay Area

Former U.S. Women’s National Team players Brandi Chastain, Leslie Osborne, Danielle Slaton and Aly Wagner announced Tuesday that the National Women’s Soccer League has awarded expansion rights to their group. The team, which has not yet announced a name or home stadium, will start playing in the league in 2024.

Published

1 month ago

April 28, 2023

Oakland Post

Leslie Osborne had 62 caps for the USWNT and played in the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup in China where the U.S. took third place in the tournament. Osborne played professionally for nine seasons and was team captain on all of her professional teams in the WPS and NWSL. (Allison+Partners via Bay City News)

By Bay City News

A new professional women’s soccer team is coming to the Bay Area.

The four soccer stars, who all have Bay Area ties including each hailing from Santa Clara University, spoke Tuesday about their efforts to bring a pro women’s team to the region starting nearly three years ago following the announcement of another NWSL expansion team, Angel City Football Club in Los Angeles.

“LA is doing this, why aren’t we doing it?” Osborne said the women were asking themselves as the group got to work to bring a team to the Bay Area.

The new team’s majority investor is Sixth Street, an investment firm with stakes in European soccer clubs like Real Madrid and FC Barcelona as well as the pro basketball team the San Antonio Spurs.

Chastain, who scored an iconic game-winning goal in the 1999 Women’s World Cup final for the U.S. over China, said “it is a different time” now in women’s sports compared to her playing days, citing the high ratings and interest for the recent NCAA women’s college basketball championship. She said the Bay Area is the perfect place to help the sport grow even more.

“We here in the Bay Area are innovators, we’re thinkers, we’re creators,” Chastain said. “The Bay is where champions come to play, that is our call to action.”

Other members of the team’s board include Sheryl Sandberg, tech executive and founder of LeanIn.org, Rick Welts, who most recently served as president of the Golden State Warriors, and Staci Slaughter, former executive vice president for the San Francisco Giants.

More details about the team can be found on its website at https://nwsltothebay.com/.

Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.

Bay Area

Town Parade Celebrates Oakland High and Oakland Tech Basketball Champions

Oakland’s pride was at an all-time high on Sunday afternoon as the basketball state champions of Oakland High and Oakland Tech paraded from Children’s Fairyland to downtown City Hall at Oscar Grant Plaza April 16. The parade celebrated the girls’ basketball team of Oakland Tech, winners of the state championship for 3 years in a row and Oakland High making history by taking the state championship for the first time.

Published

1 month ago

April 28, 2023

Oakland Post

The festivities unfolded in full force on the steps of Oakland City Hall as confetti blew through the air and photographers and videographers captured the excitement and happiness of the students. Special guest MC's featured Dr. Delores Thompson, a proud Oakland High graduate who said she also attended summer school at Oakland Tech, and Jonathan Piper II of King Makers of Oakland.

By Carla Thomas

On a double decker bus, team members danced and waved as they were transported through the city circling Lake Merritt. Onlookers honked and clapped in support as team cheerleaders waved pom poms. Once arriving at Oakland City Hall, the students were greeted with a decorated plaza of arching balloons of white, purple and gold for the Oakland Tech “Lady” Bulldogs and blue and white for the Oakland High Wildcats.

The festivities unfolded in full force on the steps of Oakland City Hall as confetti blew through the air and photographers and videographers captured the excitement and happiness of the students.

Special guest MC’s featured Dr. Delores Thompson, a proud Oakland High graduate who said she also attended summer school at Oakland Tech, and Jonathan Piper II of King Makers of Oakland.

Nancy Skinner said, “I’m especially proud of the Wildcats and Lady Bulldogs. “Will celebrate your success at the state Capitol.”

Mia Bonta led audience with a cheer: “Hold up wait a minute, let us put some O. High in it. Hold up wait a minute, let us put some Oakland Tech in it. Hold up wait a minute, let us put some Oakland in it.”

Oakland Unified School District Superintendent Kyla Johnson Trammell, a self-proclaimed ’80s baby from Oakland expressed her appreciation for the students.

“Congrats to the dynasty at Tech and a dynasty emerging at Oakland High,” said Trammell. “Our students are scholarly athletes and role models on the court and off.”

Oakland Unified School District Board of Education president Mike Hutchinson encouraged the winning team members to reflect and embrace their contributions to Oakland’s legacy. “Thanks for all your hard work,” he said.

Bart Board Director and Congressional seat candidate Lateefah Simon spoke of the state champions as “the best in the state. The very best in the Bay Area … I’m so proud, thankful and humbled to be in the presence of young geniuses and the best ballers in the state,” she said.

Representatives of Oakland City Council addressed the teams at the rally.

District 3 City Councilmember Carroll Fife said, “Today you are my heroes, and you are an example of what Oakland truly is. You are exactly what we all need more of in our city.”

District 4 City Councilmember Janani Ramachandran said, “We need to learn from you and the lessons of teamwork and resilience.”

District 7 Councilmember Treva Reid said she proudly represents deep East Oakland. “Thank you for putting some respect on Oakland, we got your back,” she said.

District 2 City Councilmember Nikki Fortunato-Bas all congratulated the teams. “When you fight and practice, you win,” she said.

District 1 City Councilmember Dan Kalb was proud that the Oakland Tech Bulldogs were in his district.

District 5 Councilmember Noel Gallo said his three daughters graduated from Oakland High and went on to Stanford University and UC Berkeley. “At one time Oakland was the 5th largest market for athletes in the U.S., so I know these teams will go on to do great things,” he said. “Congrats on your accomplishments.”

Medals & certificates of honor were presented to each team member by California Assemblymember Mia Bonta, California State Senator Nancy Skinner and Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao. Each athlete posed for a group photo with the elected officials and were cheered on as they returned to their seat.

“You are special on and off the court, and we love you,” said Thao.

Thao also gave a special shout out to event organizer, Oakland Tech Parent Teacher Student Association Vice President Dunia Wilder and the “unsung heroes” behind the scenes. “Thank you, Dunia, Myra, Brooklyn, and Vice Mayor Kimberly, for making this event happen.”

Bay Area

Kareem Jabbar Brings Books to Oakland and Tech Champs

Published

2 months ago

April 4, 2023

Oakland Post

Tony Thurmond, State Supt., Mayor Sheng Thao, OUSD Supt. encourage Athletes to score Academically too.

Oakland Tech’s Girls Basketball team and the Oakland High Boys team received major support and recognition for being on top of California’s High School sports world from the State Superintendent of Education Tony Thurmond, Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and the Superintendent and members of the Board of Directors of the Oakland Unified School District. The student-athletes were encouraged to score academically and become champions in their classrooms as they have on the basketball courts. Photo courtesy of OUSD.