With the 2025-26 college basketball season officially underway, ESPN has announced its broadcast teams for the ongoing campaign. And that includes the news that Kris Budden will serve as its top men’s college basketball sideline reporter, joining play-by-play man Dan Shulman and analyst Jay Bilas on the network’s No. 1 team.
According to ESPN VP of communications Bill Hofheimer, Budden will make her debut on the network’s top team on Tuesday night, as No. 6 Duke faces Texas in the Dick Vitale Invitational in Charlotte, North Carolina, at 8:45 p.m. ET on ESPN. Having been at ESPN since 2015, the Missouri alum has covered a variety of sports throughout her decade with the Worldwide Leader, including tennis, college baseball, football and basketball.
In joining the Shulman-Bilas duo, Budden replaces Jess Sims, who had been a part of ESPN’s top men’s college basketball broadcast team since late 2023, when Holly Rowe shifted her focus to women’s college basketball. According to a release, Ryan Ruocco, Rebecca Lobo and Rowe will return as ESPN’s top women’s college basketball team, with Sims joining Beth Mowins and Debbie Antonelli’s broadcast booth as a women’s sideline reporter.
As for the rest of ESPN’s college basketball coverage, the network didn’t announce assigned teams, but it did reveal a robust roster of talent, with Cory Alexander, Jimmy Dykes, Sean Farnham, Fran Fraschilla and Jay Williams set to serve as analysts for its signature games. Meanwhile, ESPN has also signed Kevin Keatts, Emeka Okafor, Dennis Scott, Miles Simon and Rodney Terry as analysts, with Angel Gray and Alyssa Lang returning as sideline reporters.
On the women’s side, ESPN has added former Purdue, Auburn, Georgia Tech and USA Women’s National Team head coach Nell Fortner and former Washington and Arkansas head coach Mike Neighbors as analysts, with Andraya Carter, Carolyn Peck, Christy Thomaskutty and Stephanie White returning to call marquee games. Carter will also rejoin Elle Duncan and Chiney Ogwumike as a part of the network’s popular studio team, with a full schedule of ESPN’s college basketball roster and broadcast assignments through Nov. 25 available here.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.