NBC Sports is loading up for its second season of Big Ten, Big East, and Big 12 basketball coverage with some notable additions to the broadcast booth.
The network announced its full lineup Thursday for a slate that includes nearly 200 games — most of them Peacock exclusives — with former Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder headlining the new hires on the women’s side.
Bluder retired after the 2023-24 season following 24 years leading the Hawkeyes, including those back-to-back runs to the national title game with Caitlin Clark. She won Naismith Coach of the Year in 2019 and now steps into the studio analyst role for NBC’s women’s coverage.
The men’s coverage gets a boost from three NBA veterans. Brendan Haywood — who spent years calling games for NBA TV and TNT — joins after a 14-year playing career that included two All-ACC selections at North Carolina. Evan Turner, the 2010 No. 2 overall pick who swept every major Player of the Year award at Ohio State, and Calbert Cheaney, the Big Ten’s all-time leading scorer from his Indiana days, also come aboard as game analysts.
Robbie Hummel returns for his second year with NBC after making the jump from ESPN ahead of last season. The former Purdue star has quickly become one of the network’s most prominent voices across both college and NBA coverage.
Noah Eagle sticks around as the top play-by-play voice despite his expanded NBA responsibilities, while John Fanta — who left Fox this summer to become NBC’s lead Big East announcer — will handle games across all three conferences. Paul Burmeister, Justin Kutcher, and Noah Reed all return, with Brandon Gaudin, James Westling, and Pete Sousa joining the play-by-play rotation.
Nick Bahe and Donny Marshall are back as analysts alongside Hummel. Tarik Turner and King McClure return as well, with Mike O’Donnell making his NBC debut.
Ahmed Fareed and Jac Collinsworth will host studio shows for men’s games, with Jordan Cornette and Matt McCall back as analysts. Cheaney and Turner will also make studio appearances throughout the season.
The women’s coverage brings back Sloane Martin and Zora Stephenson on play-by-play, with Brendan Glasheen and Kylen Mills joining that rotation this year. Meghan McKeown, Kim Adams, and Aja Ellison return as game analysts.
Carolyn Manno and Lindsay Czarniak handle the studio hosting duties on the women’s side. Aliyah Boston is back for year three as a studio analyst, now joined by McKeown, Ellison, and Bluder.
NBC tips things off next Wednesday as Peacock continues its sports streaming push. Between the NBA, WNBA, and college basketball, the network says it’ll have more than 300 games across its platforms this season.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.