Chris Webber and Reggie Miller are out of CBS and Turner’s NCAA Tournament plans, just one of several notable changes this year.
Webber and Miller will not be part of CBS/Turner Sports coverage of this year’s scheduled NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Webber had been on the “B” team with Brian Anderson and will be replaced by Jim Jackson. Miller had been in a three-man booth with Kevin Harlan and Dan Bonner, with his vacancy to go unfilled. Mil
According to the New York Post, both Webber and Miller opted out of the tournament, rather than CBS and Turner initiating the change.
In addition, the TNT NBA studio team of Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith will remain in Turner’s Atlanta studios during the tournament, working alongside Candace Parker and newcomer Andy Katz. The trio previously worked from the CBS studios in New York during the tournament.
The CBS college basketball team of Greg Gumbel, Clark Kellogg, Seth Davis, Wally Szczerbiak and Adam Zucker will occupy the New York studio.
The separation of the CBS and Turner studio teams is a shift from the cross-pollination that had been the norm. During the last tournament in 2019, Kellogg, Barkley and Smith worked together alongside Gumbel or Johnson.
CBS and Turner also plan to expand their broadcast teams for this year’s tournament, which is set to take place entirely in the state of Indiana. The networks plan to use ten broadcast teams, up from eight in previous years.
Lisa Byington and Tom McCarthy will be the two extra play-by-play voices this year, while Brendan Haywood and newcomer Avery Johnson will be the two extra analysts. Byington is scheduled to work with Steve Smith, McCarthy with Johnson, and Haywood with Spero Dedes.
[News from CBS/Turner 3.11, NYP 3.11]
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