Legendary college basketball analyst Billy Packer, who called 34 Final Fours, dies at 82

Longtime CBS college basketball analyst Billy Packer has died, his family announced Thursday evening. The 82-year-old Packer spent 34 years on Final Four broadcast teams, 27 of them at CBS as senior college basketball analyst, before serving in his last Final Four in 2008.

Packer’s son Mark told The Associated Press that his father had been hospitalized in Charlotte, North Carolina for the past three weeks and had multiple medical problems and eventually succumbed to kidney failure.

During his more than three decades as the leading voice in esports, Packer helped popularize three-man TV broadcast teams starring Dick Enberg and Al McGuire and was never afraid to speak his mind. Among his many iconic calls was the line “Simon says championship” when Arizona clinched the national title in 1997 after a 30-point game away from Miles Simon.

Packer played as a player for Wake Forest from 1958 to 1962, but became better known in the sports world for his idiosyncratic analysis from the sidelines of college basketball’s biggest games, including many years calling ACC games, in addition to his duties CBS, where he was an analyst from 1981-2008.

Packer was also the father of children Mark, Liz and Brandt and was predeceased by his wife Barb.

“Billy Packer was synonymous with college basketball for more than three decades and set the standard as the voice of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament,” said CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus said in a statement. “He had a tremendous impact on the growth and popularity of this sport. In true Billy fashion, he analyzed the game with his own unique style, perspective and opinions, but always kept the focus on the game. As passionate as he was about basketball, at heart Billy was a family man. He leaves part of his legacy in CBS Sports, in college basketball, and most importantly, as a beloved husband, father, and grandfather. He will be deeply missed by all.”

Packer was also influential as a player, averaging 14.1 points as a 5-foot-9 senior guard on the 1962 Wake Forest team that reached the Final Four under coach Bones McKinney. After a brief assistant coaching stint with the Demon Deacons, Packer began his broadcasting career.

“Rest in peace to the most incredible father, mentor and best friend,” Brandt Packer wrote on Twitter. “All my life I’ve always tried to emulate him – how to be a husband, father, prepare for a TV show, whatever, he was the bar for me. Just downcast. But we have peace knowing Billy is in heaven tonight Barbs.”