ESPN announcers Mike Corey and Fran Fraschilla had a little fun during Thursday’s NIT Final, thanks to Indiana State star Robbie Avila.
During the first half of the Sycamores’ game against Seton Hall, the broadcast showed Avila on the court, and displayed a list of his nicknames. For those not familiar, the 6-foot-10 sophomore has several hilarious nicknames, based in part on the fact he wears glasses on the court. The nicknames on the list were Steph Blurry, Larry Nerd, Milk Chamberlain, Cream Abdul-Jabbar and College Jokić.
Of course, you can’t display a graphic like that and not determine which nickname is best, so Corey and Fraschilla got down to business. After the two announcers got a laugh out of a couple of the nicknames, the broadcast cut to Avila’s parents watching in the stands.
“We have to ask them,” Corey said. “We can have Myron (Medcalf, ESPN’s court-side reporter) ask them what their favorite nickname is for him. They’ll definitely, definitely have one that’s not on the list.”
“Where I grew up, you know what we would call him? ‘Baller,'” Fraschilla said.
Best Robbie Avila nickname? 🏀🤓 pic.twitter.com/plwqifRyhP
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 4, 2024
“Yes,” Corey agreed.
“He’s a baller, that’s what he is,” Fraschilla added. “Great feel for the game.”
Avila finished with 13 points as Indiana State fell to Seton Hall, 79-77 in the championship game. But that brief nickname segment definitely caught the attention of college basketball fans.
Steph Blurry goes hard. https://t.co/slx4qKBKM2
— Matt Clapp (@Matt2Clapp) April 4, 2024
Larry Nerd https://t.co/97qxyQ8aaD
— Josh Barnes (@Hornetsjosh) April 4, 2024
Steph Blurry is wild 🤣🤣🤣 https://t.co/u4aqpuZeP3
— Rah (@IamDubV) April 5, 2024
[Photo Credit: ESPN]
About Arthur Weinstein
Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.