The 34 Final Fours Billy Packer, an Emmy-winning basketball commentator for NBC and CBS, covered, died at 82. Learn more about what happened to him and the cause of the death of Billy Packer.
He was CBS’s premier college basketball commentator for 28 years. He received a Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Sports Personality/Analyst in 1993. Furthermore, he was an All-Conference player at Wake Forrest and has written multiple books on college basketball. He assisted the Demon Deacons in winning two ACC titles and reaching 1962 Final Four.
What Became of Billy Packer?
A well-known Billy Packer passed away today, his family announced on social media. His son Mark confirmed the loss of her loving father, Billy Packer, in a statement that says,
The Packer family has some tragic news to share. Billy, our wonderful father, has died.
The Cause of the Death of Billy Packer:
Packer’s tenure included the evolution of college basketball from a limited, regional sport in the middle of the 20th century to a sport that grabbed the country due to March Madness’ popularity.
Furthermore, Since 1975, he has provided colour commentary for every Last Four, the year UCLA coach John Wooden won his final title, until Kansas’ win in 2008. Pacjer’s son, Mark, told the Associated Press that his father had spent weeks in the hospital in Charlotte owing to medical issues before succumbing to renal failure.
Billy Packer, Who was He?
Packer, born in Wellsville, New York, attended Bethlehem High School and played at Wake Forest from 1960 to 1962. When Wake Forest went to the Final Four in 1962, he won NCAA All-Region honours while playing for the Demon Deacons.
Billy collaborated with some of the top play-by-play announcers of his period, including Curt Gowdy, Dick Enberg, Brent Musburger, and Jim Nantz.
He was chastised in 1996 for referring to Georgetown star Allen Iverson as “a tough monkey,” and he had to apologise to two Duke students in 2000 for making sexist comments.
As one of several books he penned, Packer released his autobiography Hoops: Secrets of a College Basketball Coach in 1985. His son Mark continued his father’s broadcasting legacy and has a show on the ACC Network.
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