Fourth season of men's basketball coverage begins Thursday, October 15 with 'Pac-12 Men's Basketball Media Day Special'

Steve Lavin joins established on-air broadcast team for 100^th season of Pac-12 men’s hoops

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (October 7, 2015) – The 2015-16 Pac-12 men’s basketball season officially begins as all 12 Conference head coaches and a dozen student-athlete representatives converge on Pac-12 Headquarters in San Francisco for ‘Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Media Day’ Thursday, October 15.  

All the action of media day goes live on Pac-12 Networks starting at 10:00 a.m. PT with the Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Media Day Special, featuring interviews with all 12 head coaches, plus players including Kaleb Tarczewski (Arizona), Tyrone Wallace (California), Josh Scott (Colorado), Gary Payton II (Oregon State), Jordan McLaughlin (USC) and Andrew Andrews (Washington). The three-hour media day special setting the stage for the Conference’s 100^th year of men’s basketball will air live across all seven networks, as well as at Pac-12.com/now and via the Pac-12 Now app.

Fans can also tune into their favorite coaches and players live addressing the media at Pac-12.com where a stream of the podium will be available.

Thursday, October 15 also marks the return of Pac-12 Networks’ talented group of on-air men’s basketball personalities that with their unique knowledge of the Conference, will bring fans expert analysis all season long during live games and studio programming. The Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Media Day Special features host Mike Yam, alongside Don MacLean, Kevin O’Neill and Lamar Hurd, plus an appearance from new Pac-12 Network analyst Steve Lavin.

As the latest basketball expert to join Pac-12 Networks, Lavin brings both head coaching and broadcast experience to the analyst team. He spent 11 years as a head coach at UCLA and St. John’s University, compiling an overall record of 226-131, including 10 winning seasons, nine with 20-or-more wins and eight NCAA Tournament bids. He also had 16 student-athletes drafted by NBA teams. Lavin also served as a college basketball analyst for ABC Sports and ESPN from 2003-10, establishing himself as one of the game’s top commentators.

Leading Pac-12 Networks’ crop of returning analysts is all-around legend and basketball Hall of Famer Bill Walton, bringing his eclectic game analysis to Pac-12 Network broadcasts for a third season. Former coaches Mike Montgomery (California, Stanford) and Kevin O’Neill (USC) are back for their second full season, while a trio of Pac-12 standouts – all-time leading scorer Don MacLean (UCLA), Lamar Hurd (Oregon State) and Matt Muehlebach (Arizona) – will mark their fourth season with the Networks.

Pac-12 women’s basketball analysts Mary Murphy and Ros Gold-Onwude will also provide color on select men’s games beginning with Full Court Friday, Pac-12 Networks’ busiest night of men’s hoops on November 13 featuring regular season home openers for nine of the Conference’s 12 programs. As a former women’s basketball head coach for the Wisconsin Badgers and Sacramento Monarchs, Murphy has provided both game and studio coverage for Pac-12 Networks’ women’s hoops telecasts since 2012. A former Stanford Cardinal, Gold-Onwude, is also in her fourth season as a basketball analyst for Pac-12 Networks, and is the sideline reporter for the World Champion Golden State Warriors.       

Returning play-by-play voices include: Ted Robinson, Kevin Calabro, JB Long, Roxy Bernstein, Rich Cellini, Daron Sutton and Jim Watson.

Pac-12 Networks’ full play-by-play and analyst roster for men’s basketball can be found below:

Analysts:

• Dan Belluomini
• Ben Braun
• Dan Dickau
• Ros Gold-Onwude
• Lamar Hurd
• Casey Jacobsen
• Steve Lavin
• Don MacLean
• Mike Montgomery
• Matt Muehlebach
• Mary Murphy
• Kevin O’Neill
• Eldridge Recasner
• Drew Shiller
• Bill Walton

Play-by-play:

• Roxy Bernstein
• Kevin Calabro
• Rich Cellini
• JB Long
• Ted Robinson
• Daron Sutton
• Jim Watson

The telecast schedule tips off with a tape-delayed broadcast of the Red-Blue exhibition game of defending Conference champion Arizona Saturday, October 17 at 9:30 p.m. PT followed by a week of exhibition matchups November 3-9 at Oregon (vs. Northwest Oregon), Oregon State (vs. Western Oregon), Utah (vs. Cal State Monterey Bay), Arizona (vs. Chico State) and Cal (vs. Carroll College).

Friday, November 13 – fittingly dubbed Full Court Friday – treats fans to nine of the Conference’s 12 programs, beginning with new head coach Bobby Hurley and the Arizona State Sun Devils opening their regular season against Sacramento State at 4:30 p.m. PT.

Full Court Friday Ÿ November 13 Ÿ Nine games tipping off between 4:30-8:30 p.m. PT

Of the 153 total game telecasts, 49 of those will be regular season conference matchups, beginning New Year’s Day with USC visiting Washington State at 6:00 p.m. PT, followed by Colorado at California at 8:00 p.m. PT. The Networks’ eight-game coverage of the Pac-12 Tournament from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas tips off Wednesday, March 9 with four exciting matchups, beginning at Noon PT.

Pac-12 Networks’ complete 2015-16 Pac-12 Networks men’s basketball televised schedule can be found online HERE.