St. John's Red Storm guard Dylan Darling Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images
By Drew Lerner on

Is there a better sports broadcasting gig than being a sideline reporter for March Madness? Seriously. The assignment might be the most underrated in all of sports.

For one, there’s simply no sporting event as exciting as March Madness. A 68-team, single-elimination bracket filled with hormonal college kids and equally hormonal head coaches competing in the highest stakes environment of their careers? All in front of a massive national television audience? Sign me up.

And CBS Sports/TNT Sports have done an expert job of capitalizing on the borderline primal energy being displayed on the court. That is, in no small part, due to the work of sideline reporters, who are granted extraordinary access to players and coaches during the tournament.

Think about it. Each head coach gives a mid-game interview during the first half of play. The sideline reporter interviews a player at halftime. Then, the postgame interview can feature a star player from the winning team, the coach, or a combination of both, as they experience one of the most thrilling moments of their lives.

Through the first weekend of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, there were no shortage of brilliant moments featuring sideline reporters, all of whom capitalized on the unique combination of access and energy that March Madness delivers.

Perhaps the most memorable will be Lauren Shehadi’s mid-game interview with Villanova head coach Kevin Willard, who threatened to fire his staff for the Wildcats’ performance. Even when Shehadi gave the “joking” coach an off-ramp, quipping, “Not now!” Willard doubled down, again threatening to fire his entire staff. “Bye coach,” Shehadi then deadpanned before throwing it back to the booth. “Kevin, we’re losing people by the second.”

The Willard circumstance was, well, abnormal, and Shehadi handled it well. But it’s a lesson that these sideline reporter interviews come in all shapes and sizes.

On the first day of the tournament, Jared Greenberg authored this brilliant postgame interview with High Point head coach Flynn Clayman, who had a pro-mid-major agenda to push moments after his team upset Wisconsin to earn the school’s first-ever NCAA Tournament victory.

Not to be outdone, Greenberg led another laugh-out-loud funny yet insightful interview during Texas’s game against BYU, when Longhorns coach Sean Miller bluntly revealed he didn’t believe his team could guard Cougars star AJ Dybantsa.

Sure, it takes two to tango. Without the overworked adrenal glands of their subjects, sideline reporters might find it more difficult to nail these moments. But this is March Madness, not the Spelling Bee. And sideline reporters are acing the test.

Here’s Shehadi again, who has seemingly mastered the art of asking questions that are short, to the point, and illicit actually interesting answers from coaches and players. St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino flat out told Shehadi he thought Kansas believed his team couldn’t shoot.

After the Red Storm won on Dylan Darling’s buzzer beater, Shehadi got Darling to reveal that Pitino had been “yelling at [him], per usual” while in the huddle, which led to a lighthearted back-and-forth.

For whatever reason, there’s a common thread of charm and honesty in a lot of these March Madness interviews. Here’s AJ Ross speaking with Prairie View A&M coach Byron Smith, who essentially said his team would need an Act of God to beat No. 1 seed Florida.

Compare this to your typical sideline interview with an NFL player or coach, or a baseball manager in a dugout, and the difference is night and day. March Madness provides the environment for these moments to happen, but the sideline reporters bring them to life.

There’s an impressive level of quick-thinking and wit required to excel as a sideline reporter. You never know how a coach or player will react to a question or prompt. But that’s also the beauty of the sideline interview. There’s an element of high-wire act to it all. And when reporters are able to stick the landing, it’s worthy of praise.

Sideline reporting is often a thankless job. Much of their value isn’t immediately apparent to the viewer at home. They’re gathering information, communicating that information with producers, and occasionally popping on the broadcast with a report.

March Madness flips that entire dynamic on its head. Sideline reporters become the stars of the show. No longer are fans bemoaning another boring interview filled with coachspeak. They’re expecting raw, unfettered emotion, and they usually get it.

So for at least a few weeks every year, sideline reporting isn’t such a thankless job. It’s the best job. And we’re here for it.

About Drew Lerner

Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.

View all posts by Drew Lerner