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Kay & Britt Rice Lecture Series - 4/2/2008

Bob Knight

In college basketball, the name Coach Bob Knight is synonymous with greatness and winning. The numbers and achievements that illustrate what he has done for the game of basketball are there for all to see. He is among the youngest head coaches to have won 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, and 800 career games. He is the only one to win 900 games. During his six seasons at Army, his twenty-nine years at Indiana University, and his nearly seven seasons at the helm of the Texas Tech program, he has experienced nothing short of excellence. There are the wins, the conference titles, the national championships, and the exemplary graduation rate and player success after basketball. Most telling, there is the bond that exists between Coach Knight and those who have played for him. Bob Knight recently joined ESPN as a college basketball studio analyst during the network’s coverage of Championship Week and through the NCAA Tournament.

Jim Nantz

Jim Nantz has covered virtually every sport for the CBS Television Network since joining it in 1985. This year marks Nantz’s 23rd year covering the NCAA Men’s Division I National Championship. He took over as lead play-by-play announcer for college basketball in 1990. Teamed with Billy Packer, he has called regular-season and NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship games since then. He has called the play-by-play on more network broadcasts of the Final Four and Championship games than any other announcer in the tournament’s history. He has been the lead voice for “The NFL on CBS” since 2004, joining lead analyst Phil Simms. Mr. Nantz began his tenure at CBS Sports as host of the network’s college football studio show and went on to cover the NFL in 1991. Nantz’s assignments for CBS Sports include play-by-play at the U.S. Open Tennis Championships, co-hosting the weekend coverage of the 1992 and 1994 Olympic Winter Games and coverage of NCAA track and field, skiing, speed skating, baseball, swimming and diving, gymnastics, and even polo. He graduated with a degree in radio/television from the University of Houston.

Billy Packer

This is Billy Packer’s 25th season as lead analyst for CBS Sports’ college basketball coverage and 32nd consecutive year covering the Final Four. Mr. Packer grew up as the son of a coach at Lehigh University and in 1958 was a Pennsylvania All-State basketball selection. He went on to attend Wake Forest University where he was an All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) guard. He led his team to two ACC titles and one Final Four appearance in 1962. He returned to Wake Forest in 1965 as an assistant coach for Bones McKinney and Jack McCloskey. He began his broadcasting career in 1972 covering ACC games and is in his 34th consecutive year calling ACC games for Jefferson Pilot Sports. Mr. Packer joined NBC Sports in 1974 for the opening round of the NCAA Tournament and then teamed with Curt Gowdy in 1975. The following year, he worked with Dick Enberg on regular-season games, as well as the NCAA Tournament. In 1978, Al McGuire joined the pair, becoming one of the most popular broadcasting trios ever. He is co-founder of Tour DuPont and Tour of China and the Buckler Challenger and spends the majority of his time investing and developing real estate including Old Beau Golf Club in North Carolina.