Billy Packer

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

February 20, 1999 / 3:31 PM EST / CBS

Billy Packer

One of the most acclaimed broadcasters of college basketball, Billy Packer has covered 25 NCAA Men's Basketball Championships as an analyst, the last 18 for CBS Sports. He won the Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Sports Personality/Analyst in 1993.

Packer's love of college basketball developed while he was growing up as the son of the coach at Lehigh University. In 1958, he was a Pennsylvania All-State basketball selection and went on to attend Wake Forest University, where he was an All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) guard (1960-62). He led his team to three ACC regular-season titles and the Final Four in 1962. In 1965, he returned to Wake Forest as an assistant coach for Bones McKinney and Jack McCloskey.

In 1972, Packer got his start in broadcasting in Raleigh, N.C., when he was asked to fill in as an analyst for a regionally televised ACC game. He became a regular the next season. He currently calls ACC games for Jefferson Pilot Sports.

After covering ACC games, Packer joined NBC Sports for the opening round of the 1974 NCAA tournament. In 1975, he was teamed with Curt Gowdy for the entire tournament, including the UCLA-Kentucky title game. The following year, he worked with Dick Enberg on regular-season games as well as the tournament. Al McGuire joined the pair in 1978, and they became one of the most popular broadcasting trios ever.

Packer has written three books, Hoops, College Basketball's 25 Greatest Teams and History of the Final Four. In addition, he has been inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame, the Wake Forest University Hall of Fame, the National Basketball Hall of Fame and the National Polish Hall of Fame. He has also received the North Carolina Sportscaster of the Year Award.

Packer was graduated with a B.A. in economics from Wake Forest University in 1962. He is the co-founder of the Tour DuPont, the most famous cycling event in the United States, and the Tour of China. He was born Feb. 25, 1940 in Wellsville, N.Y. He and his wife, Barbara, now live in Charlotte, N.C. They have three children. His son Brant serves as broadcast associate for CBS Sports' college football, basketball and golf broadcasts.