Stan Van Gundy shares what he loves about the NCAA tournament

The most glorious time of the year for college basketball fans is almost here. The NCAA tournament starts next week. If you aren’t lucky enough to see the games in person, TNT Sports and CBS Sports have you covered. They will broadcast the games, so you won’t miss the action. TNT Sports’ Stan Van Gundy will be part of a crew that includes Kevin Harlan, Dan Bonner, and Lauren Shehadi.

To learn more about what it takes to get ready for March Madness, we recently caught up with Van Gundy. He’ll switch from broadcasting NBA games for TNT Sports to analyzing college games. The former NBA and college coach shared insights into his preparation and his Selection Sunday experience in the 1990s.

Note: This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.

Awful Announcing: What are you looking forward to seeing?

Stan Van Gundy: “It’s simple for me. I don’t see a ton of college basketball during the season. So when I get the assignments, I just throw myself into it. I’ll watch everybody in our regional two or three games each. Monday and Tuesday, I sit by my pool in Florida, pull up Synergy, and start watching games. I love it, not just for the preparation. I love to see the different styles of play, the schemes and strategies. It’s a basketball coach’s dream to sit down and watch that much basketball.”

Is there anything you do to get a head start in terms of preparation?

“Not a whole lot because you don’t know who you’re going to have. But I go on like kenpom.com and get familiar with what’s going on. You can get (data) on everybody but when you’re just perusing, you’re getting the top teams. You’re getting all those SEC teams and Big 12 teams, Duke. You know what’s going on with those teams but when we go to the regionals, you’re going to have teams from all over the map There’s no way you can prepare for all of those people ahead of time.”

“DID WE JUST SEE WHAT WE THINK WE JUST SAW?!”

Kevin Harlan nearly FELL OUT OF HIS CHAIR. Dan Bonner and @realStanVG were STUNNED.

The crew’s reaction to Furman’s dramatic win over Virginia was incredible. pic.twitter.com/Jym88PALq8

— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 20, 2023

How many games during championship week do you watch?

“I’m still doing (NBA this week). I’m a sports fan. It’s all I am this week. If I’m home in front of the TV, you turn it on and watch it. But I don’t make any notes. I watch and enjoy, and maybe something will come back to me. But no. I’m just a fan until we get the assignments.”

How do you see your role as a broadcaster?

“I just try to focus on the coaches and the teams as far as strategy and then with the personnel, I’m more looking at tendencies. I’m not on there trying to tell stories. Lauren Shehadi will tell the stories with Kevin and Dan. Dan has the historical references with college basketball so I’m easily the least important member of my team. I try to stick to what I know which is the Xs and Os and the player tendencies and things like that so I go in knowing the teams and players as well as I can.”

How have you improved making the switch from NBA to college?

“It comes down to preparation, so in some ways, it’s better than if I were doing it all year. There are advantages and disadvantages but I go in with a blank slate. Not that I haven’t read anything but I’m going in and watching most of these teams for the first time and I’m not listening to a lot of outside noise ahead of time. I don’t even look at the stats on these teams until I have watched the games. I want to go in with a fresh mind and develop my own thoughts on the teams. I don’t know if that makes me better but I think it fits into our group as a balance to Kevin and Dan who know a lot more than I do.”

What’s it like working with Kevin Harlan?

“It’s just been great. Kevin has one of the most if not the most recognizable voices in sports broadcasting. You listen to five seconds of a broadcast and you’re like ‘Oh that’s Kevin Harlan.’

“The first game NCAA game I ever did with him was that Furman-Virginia game a couple of years ago. He had the iconic call at the end and then he was telling us to lay out. He spread his arms out, pushing us back. He wanted the crowd noise in. He knows not only the game, he knows TV and what the audience needs and wants to see. When you work with guys like that, you stay in your lane and let them run the show. Kevin’s fantastic and he’s a better person than he is a broadcaster.”

What’s your favorite part of March Madness?

“Over the course of two weeks, I get to see ten practices, not that they’re going real hard. They differ in how they do it, but you’re watching them put in their game plan and talk about stuff. Man, for somebody like me, that’s fantastic. I love that even better than the games, watching these coaches work. I get there early. I sit through every minute of every practice. It’s fun.”

Since you live in Florida, do you try to lobby your bosses to keep you close to home?

“It’s totally out of my control. I don’t mind. Because of the NBA work, I’m all over the place. I’m in San Francisco this week, and you’re all over, so it doesn’t matter. Now, in my first year doing the NCAA tournament, my first games were in Orlando, which is where I live. I had a quick drive. Some of my producers at TNT were giving me a hard time before saying: ‘You’re not going to get Orlando.’ I’m like, ‘Well, you never know.’ Boom! I ended up there. That was easy.”

What do you remember about the 1994 NCAA tournament when you were an assistant at Wisconsin?

“It was unbelievable because we were on the bubble at Wisconsin. We hadn’t been in 47 years. Stu Jackson had everybody over to his house. You watch the first few names being called, and you get more nervous as time goes on. Then, when they called the name, I remember the excitement. It’s something I’ll remember forever, and I think all those players will too.”

John Fanta and Tom Crean had a beverage spill during a broadcast. Has that happened to you?

“I had one this year at an NBA game. I was drinking tea at the table and spilled it on my tie. Brian Anderson, I think that’s who I was working with, they accused me of doing it on purpose because it gave me an excuse. I could take off my tie because it was a mess. I didn’t do it on purpose but I did get to work the game without a tie. That’s the only time now but if anybody is going to make a mistake like that, it would be me.”