Jim Nantz will be in San Antonio’s Alamodome on Saturday to watch the Final Four matchup between the Duke Blue Devils and Houston Cougars. Nantz, of course, is a Houston graduate and will be cheering the Cougars on. But his ties to Houston — and specifically Houston’s basketball program — go beyond just being an alum.
Nantz was a guest of ACC Network host Mark Packer, the son of Nantz’s longtime broadcast partner, the legendary Billy Packer. He talked about how much he’s looking forward to Saturday’s semifinal, as well as a potential final on Monday night.
“I am so stoked about making it to the Final Four and possibly cutting down the nets on Monday night,” Nantz said. “Who knows? I love this team of ours. I don’t get to talk in we’s and our’s very often. But you know my ties. You and your family know it better than anyone, how back in my life — how far back in my life — my ties go with the Houston basketball program. This is a glorious, glorious weekend. I can’t wait to share it with some family members. And we’ll give Duke everything we have. Hopefully, it’s enough.”
Nantz then went into detail on why Houston’s basketball team means so much to him.
“My whole broadcasting career really was channeled through the Houston basketball program,” Nantz explained. “My golf coach, Dave Williams, introduced me, early in my days at Houston, on campus, to Guy Lewis, our legendary coach. The late Guy Lewis — Hall of Famer. And Guy instantly, for whatever reason, took a shine to me. He put me at the scorer’s table as the public address announcer for the home basketball games. The first time I got to work with a microphone.
“And then, my first time I ever got to work in television, I was the host of Guy’s television show,” he continued. “And it was running on the NBC affiliate. Man, I was just a kid living in the dorms. So I’ve spent my entire life living and dying with Houston basketball. And it’s very personal, as a lot of times it can be. But I mean, I really do feel like, in a lot of ways, my career came through the U of H basketball team.”
Houston coach Kelvin Sampson made sure that Nantz was included in a team photo, taken shortly after the Cougars defeated Tennessee to advance to the Final Four.
So, whatever love Nantz has for Houston’s basketball team seems to be mutual.
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