Longtime college basketball analyst Billy Packer died, his family announced Thursday evening. He was 82.
Packer was a fixture on telecasts of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament from 1975 through 2008, first with NBC until 1981 and then with CBS for the next 27 years, forming a memorable partnership with Jim Nantz. Upon being replaced by Clark Kellogg in 2008, he described the move as resulting from a mutual decision between himself and CBS. Following his sports broadcasting career, Packer worked in real estate.
“Our amazing father, Billy, has passed,” his son Mark Packer, who hosts college sports- oriented TV and radio shows on the ACC Network, wrote on Twitter. “We take peace knowing that he’s in heaven with Barb. RIP, Billy.”
Mark Packer told the Associated Press that his father had been hospitalized for the past three weeks with several illnesses, and that he ultimately succumbed to kidney failure.
In 1993, he received a Sports Emmy for Outstanding Sports Personality, Studio and Sports Event Analyst. Other career honors include the Curt Gowdy Award from the National Basketball Hall of Fame and inductions into Halls of Fame relating to his connections with Wake Forest, North Carolina sports and the Polish American community.
Hailing Packer as having “set the standard of excellence” for Final Four broadcasts, CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus said in a statement: “He had a tremendous impact on the growth and popularity of the sport. In true Billy fashion, he analyzed the game with his own unique style, perspective and opinions, yet always kept the focus on the game.
