TBS NCAA Basketball Announcers: Who Are They?

Get to know the broadcasters that will be bringing you all the action from the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament

Introduction

March Madness is just around the corner and that means it’s time to start getting to know the broadcasting team that will be bringing all the action to your TV screens. This year, Turner Sports’ (TBS, TNT, and truTV) lead NCAA tournament announcing team will be comprised of Ernie Johnson Kenny Smith Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal. But who are these guys? Let’s take a look at some of their background so you can be prepared for all the insights and (hopefully) laugh-out-loud moments they’re bound to deliver throughout the tournament.

Ernest “Ernie” Johnson Jr. is an American sportscaster for Turner Sports and CBS Sports He is currently the lead voice for Major League Baseball on TBS. He has been the studio host for TNT’s coverage of the NBA since 1990, and also frequently serves as a play-by-play announcer for both TNT and TBS’ Major League Baseball coverage.

Kenny “The Jet” Smith is a retired American professional basketball player and current analyst on Inside The NBA He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1987 to 1997 as a member of the Sacramento Kings Atlanta Hawks Houston Rockets Detroit Pistons Seattle SuperSonics Orlando Magic Denver Nuggets and New Jersey Nets

Charles Wade Barkley is an American retired professional basketball player who is currently an analyst on Inside the NBA Nicknamed “Chuck”, “Sir Charles”, and “The Round Mound of Rebound”, Barkley established himself as one of the National Basketball Association’s most dominating power forwards He was drafted 5th overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in 1984.

Joe Davis

Joe Davis is the voice of Turner Sports’ NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship coverage, calling play-by-play for TBS’ broadcasts of the Sweet 16 and Elite 8.

Davis has been with Turner Sports since 2014, when he was first tapped to call PGA Championship golf for TNT. He also calls Major League Baseball and NFL games for the network.

Carter Blackburn

Carter Blackburn is the lead play-by-play announcer for TBS’s coverage of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Blackburn has been with TBS since 2011, and has called four consecutive Final Fours for the network. Prior to joining TBS, Blackburn was a studio host and play-by-play announcer for CBS College Sports Network

Brendan Fitzgerald

Dan Fitzgerald is a play-by-play announcer for TBS’s coverage of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament He has been with the network since 2014.

Fitzgerald was born and raised in Washington, D.C. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame where he majored in broadcast journalism.

Steve Smith

Steven (Steve) Anthony Smith is an American sports television personality and former Professional Basketball player who is currently a studio analyst for NBA TV and Turner Sports’ NBA on TNT He played college basketball for Michigan State University where he was a two-time All-American, before being drafted fifth overall by the Miami Heat in the 1991 NBA draft

Smith enjoyed a successful 13-year career in the NBA. He was voted to the NBA All-Rookie First Team after averaging 16.7 points, 6.4 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game for the Miami Heat in 1991–92 season. He was then traded to the Atlanta Hawks prior to the trade deadline in his second season with theHeat.

In Atlanta, Smith helped lead the Hawks to eight consecutive playoff appearances from 1997 to 2004, including trips to the Eastern Conference Semifinals in 1997, 1998, 2002 and 2003. Smith averaged a career-high 19.5 points per game during the 1998–99 season and was named to the NBA All-Star game that same year.

Will Perdue

Will Perdue is a former NBA player and current basketball analyst. He began his broadcasting career in 2003 and has been with Turner Sports since 2006. While mostly serving as an analyst on NBA TV and college basketball games on TBS, he also occasionally does play-by-play.

Jon Rothstein

Jon Rothstein is a veteran College Basketball reporter who currently serves as a studio analyst for CBS Sports Network and is the lead College Basketball reporter for CBS Sports Radio. He also hosts a popular college basketball podcast called “The Jon Rothstein Show.”

Dana Jacobson

Dana Jacobson is an American television journalist who is currently an anchor and reporter for CBS Sports She was previously a sports anchor and reporter for ESPN. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan

Jacobson began her broadcasting career as a sports anchor and reporter for WSYM-TV in Lansing, Michigan. She then worked as a sports anchor and reporter for WJBK-TV in Detroit, Michigan. In 2000, she joined ESPN as a features reporter for ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights. She also appeared on SportsCenter, Outside the Lines, and Cold Pizza. In 2007, she was named the host of First Take, a daily sports debate show on ESPN2.

In 2009, Jacobson left ESPN to join CBS Sports as an anchor and reporter. She has since appeared on CBS Sports Network’s college football Live and SEC Today. She also serves as a sideline reporter for CBS Sports’ college football and basketball coverage

Aaron Goldsmith

Aaron Goldsmith is the play-by-play announcer for TBS’s coverage of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament He is also the radio play-by-play voice of the Seattle Mariners

Conclusion

The 2019-20 college Basketball season on TBS will feature a talented and accomplished group of announcers. Play-by-play voice Brian Anderson will be joined by analysts and former NBA Stars Grant Hill and Reggie Miller Additionally, billionaire fashion icon and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban will serve as a studio analyst throughout the season.

With Anderson, Hill, Miller and Cuban on the call, TBS is poised to deliver an enjoyable and informative broadcast for fans of NCAA Basketball