Jim Nantz concerned for college basketball: ‘May not live another 15 years’

Enjoy the NCAA men’s Final Four this weekend because the future of college basketball might struggle to outlast Jim Nantz’s broadcast career.

The University of Houston graduate and former voice of March Madness joined The Dan Patrick Show Thursday morning to discuss his alma mater playing in the Final Four this weekend before looking ahead to his coverage of the Masters next week for CBS. And during the interview, Patrick asked Nantz whether he was more concerned for the future of college basketball or the future of golf.

After dismissing LIV as a threat and noting golf has been around for more than 500 years, Nantz expressed more concern for the future of college basketball.

“My concern on your question is the future of college basketball,” Nantz admitted. “That may not live as we know it another 500 years. It may not live another 15 years. Because the portal and NIL, it’s difficult. And I don’t want to paint it doom and gloom, I don’t want to say it’s bound to be extinct, it’s not going to be. But what we knew it as, what we grew up with, that model doesn’t exist anymore, and some people have a real problem with that.

“And I want to put a pitch for my school here — the University of Houston. As we go into this weekend, we represent college basketball the way we used to know it better than anybody, maybe in America. Our guys stay…yeah, we have to play the NIL game. But our guys aren’t racing to the portal. They believe in their coach. There’s a family culture there; they’re all in.”

After calling 354 NCAA Tournament games, 96 Final Four matchups, and 32 national championship games, this marks the second consecutive season without Nantz in college basketball, who passed the baton to Ian Eagle in 2023. And to no fault of Eagle’s, the future of college basketball doesn’t look bright to Nantz.

While some people have a real problem with college basketball not being the same sport they grew up with, fans still come out in droves for the tournament. After a season of people complaining that NIL and the transfer portal are ruining the sport, the excitement, heart, and soul of the tournament still seem to return every March.

Nantz may not have wanted to paint a picture of doom and gloom for college basketball, but suggesting it may not live another 15 years did just that. At least he presented a potential path for some long-term success: Be like Houston.