Jim Nantz will call his final March Madness tournament next year, The New York Post’s Andrew Marchand reported. Nantz is still expected to remain as CBS’ top NFL broadcaster and the main voice for golf on the network, including the Masters.
Nantz told Marchand that he wants to spend more time with his kids. However, he does want to return every year just for the trophy presentation after the final game.
Nantz has been the lead voice of the Final Four since 1991, when he replaced Brent Musburger for the honor. Before then, he had worked in the studio for CBS’ coverage of the tournament.
According to Marchand, when Nantz does step away, Ian Eagle will replace him as the lead voice. Grant Hill and Bill Raftery are both expected to remain on the top team with Eagle.
“It’s his time,” Nantz told Marchand. “I will support him 1,000 percent. He doesn’t need my support. But I’m absolutely thrilled for him. He’s a great teammate. He’s been right in the middle of this NCAA Tournament for a long, long time. So he’s not dropping in from outside, I mean he’s going to be working an extra weekend. It happens to be the big one. And he is definitely capable and ready and will excel and he’ll take it to all new heights.”
Eagle is currently the Nets play-by-play announcer and the No. 2 broadcaster for CBS’ football and TNT’s basketball coverage. He has also been doing college basketball games for CBS since 1998, and is one of three other broadcasters besides Nantz to do games during the second weekend of the tournament.
