Jim Nantz Says Simple, Classy Goodbye After Announcing Last National Championship Game

HOUSTON - Nothing flashy, just classy.

"Everybody has a story. Everybody has a story to tell," CBS play-by-play legend Jim Nantz said after his last men's college basketball national championship game Monday night following Connecticut's 76-59 win over San Diego State at NRG Stadium.

"Just try to tell that story, and be kind," Nantz said. "Let me say one more thing. To everybody in college basketball, my family and all the viewers, thank you for being my friend."

Nantz, 62, is leaving his play-by-play calling duties for the NCAA Tournament and the Final Four, something he has done since 1990. But he will continue do play-by-play at the Masters golf tournament and the NFL on CBS.

He interviewed Final Four MVP Adama Sanogo of Connecticut and Huskies' coach Dan Hurley after the game at center court.

"You can't make me cry in front of all these people, Jim," Hurley said.

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Guilbeau joined OutKick as an SEC columnist in September of 2021 after covering LSU and the Saints for 17 years at USA TODAY Louisiana. He has been a national columnist/feature writer since the summer of 2022, covering college football, basketball and baseball with some NFL, NBA, MLB, TV and Movies and general assignment, including hot dog taste tests. A New Orleans native and Mizzou graduate, he has consistently won Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) and Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) awards since covering Alabama and Auburn at the Mobile Press-Register (1993-98) and LSU and the Saints at the Baton Rouge Advocate (1998-2004). In 2021, Guilbeau won an FWAA 1st for a game feature, placed in APSE Beat Writing, Breaking News and Explanatory, and won Beat Writer of the Year from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association (LSWA). He won an FWAA columnist 1st in 2017 and was FWAA's top overall winner in 2016 with 1st in game story, 2nd in columns, and features honorable mention. Guilbeau completed a book in 2022 about LSU's five-time national champion coach - "Everything Matters In Baseball: The Skip Bertman Story" - that is available at www.acadianhouse.com, Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble outlets. He lives in Baton Rouge with his wife, the former Michelle Millhollon of Thibodaux who previously covered politics for the Baton Rouge Advocate and is a communications director.