William Joseph Raftery (born April 19, 1943) is an American basketball analyst and former college basketball coach.
Early life and playing years
Born William Joseph Raftery[1] in Orange, New Jersey, and raised in nearby Kearny,[2] Raftery grew up in a Catholic family with Irish immigrant parents, Francis and Margaret.[3] He had a brother, Francis, and a sister, Rita, who was a Catholic nun (Sr. Francis Raftery) who served as president of the College of Saint Elizabeth.[4]
Raftery graduated in 1959 from the now defunct St. Cecilia High School in Kearny, where he starred in basketball and became the all-time leading scorer in state history with 2,193 points, a record he held for nine years. (Shaheen Holloway, one of his successors as head coach at Seton Hall University, scored 42 fewer points and Kyrie Irving had 113 fewer as New Jersey high school players.)[5] He earned all-state honors in basketball and led his team to the state championship in his senior season. He was also named all-state in baseball and soccer.[6] He has been named, retroactively, Mr. Basketball USA for 1959.[7]
From 1970 to 1981, he was the head coach of the Seton Hall Pirates, where he posted a 154–141 record and led the team to four ECAC post-season tournaments and two National Invitational Tournament appearances. In 1979, he was named Coach of the Year by the New Jersey Sports Writers Association.[11] His 154 wins as a coach places him fifth on the all-time list at Seton Hall behind Honey Russell, P. J. Carlesimo, Frank Hill, and Kevin Willard.
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
Conference regular season champion
Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
Division regular season champion
Division regular season and conference tournament champion
Conference tournament champion
Raftery said it was during his senior year in college, when La Salle was competing in the NIT, that legendary New York sportscaster Bob Wolff suggested he eventually consider a career in broadcasting. “It always stuck in my head,” Raftery said. “It was just one of those things in the back of my head, and I said, ‘This will keep me in the game that I enjoy.’”[14]
He began his broadcasting career as co-host of ESPN’s College Hoops Tonight in 1980. He began calling New Jersey Nets games in 1982.[15]
Starting with the 2014–15 collegiate basketball season, CBS/Turner Sports partnered Raftery with Jim Nantz and Grant Hill to make up the primary announcing team for the remainder of the regular season, all the way through the NCAA men's basketball tournament and the Final Four.[18]
Before CBS elevated him to their primary announcing team, he served as an analyst for CBS Radio/Westwood One's coverage of the NCAA Men's Final Four from 1991 to 2014[19] working in later years with Kevin Kugler and John Thompson.
After the media rights for the Big East moved from ESPN to Fox Sports in 2013, Raftery signed with Fox Sports to call Big East basketball games on the upstart network Fox Sports 1 with Gus Johnson.[20]
Raftery was also the lead analyst for the Nets (prior to the franchise's move to Brooklyn) for over 20 years until 2002[21] and was an on-course commentator for PGA TourChampions Tour events.[8] While at CBS he also worked as an analyst for select NBA games, paired with Brent Musburger and Dick Stockton.
Beginning with the 2024 NCAA Tournament, Raftery has been paired with Ian Eagle,[22] his former partner with the Nets and frequent regular season college basketball partner.
His trademark quotes include:
"Onions!" (when a shot is made late in a close game),
"Send it in big fella!" (when a post player makes a slam dunk),
"With a little kiss!" (when a shot banks in, usually in a nonstandard way),[23]
"A little nickel-dimer!" (when a soft foul is called)
"Get the puppies organized!" (in reference to good footwork)
"A little lingerie on the deck!" (when a player makes a nifty move with the ball and fakes out the defender).[24]
"Man-to-man!", which he announces very fast and excitedly at the start of most games.[25]
Fairleigh Dickinson Athletics Hall of Fame inductee (1997)[27]
Coach of the Year by the New Jersey Basketball Writers Association (1979)[27]
Other ventures
Aside from his commentating duties, Raftery was also the president of W.J. Raftery Associates, an event/marketing firm.[8]
Personal life
Raftery earned an M.A.E. in education from Seton Hall University in 1966.[11][28] In 2001, he received an honorary doctorate from La Salle.[11][1]
Raftery and his wife, the former Joan Fleming, live in Florida.[29] Previously they lived in Florham Park, New Jersey, where they raised four children, Billy, Kristi, Kelli and Suzi.[30] They have five grandchildren.[8]
In 2015, Billy and his father's broadcasting partner, Grant Hill, produced With A Kiss, a documentary about Raftery's first shot at calling the Final Four at age 73.[30] The documentary premiered in 2016, hours before the longtime broadcaster called his second Final Four as a television analyst for CBS Sports.[31] In 2018, Billy and Hill formed Point Road Productions.[32]
