Premium ContentMouse over Home then click on Premium Content for information.Nebraska keeps chipping away. Indiana's 11-point lead shrinks to eight, then six, then three. Students are jumping, shouting, dreaming of an upset.
Gus Johnson is preparing for the crescendo.
He hasn't been to this arena — the Devaney Center — in almost 15 years. But sitting at mid-court, he's digging it. You can tell from the pitch in his voice. As the score tightens, he punctuates sentences like a slam dunk.
"Spencer for the 3 and the TIE! Loose ball! Talley there! That cuts it to one."
Johnson, 44, has covered a little bit of everything in two decades of play-by-play: the NFL, NBA and MLB. Arena football, college hockey and, of course, Howard University women's basketball.
But the reason he is one of America's brightest broadcasting stars — the reason Husker fans will approach him after the game seeking autographs and pictures — is men's college hoops.
He is the unofficial voice of March Madness, his enthusiasm a perfect fit for the drama of the Big Dance. When Gus calls an NCAA tournament game, it always goes down to the wire — at least it seems that way.
"Game clock at 16. They spread the floor for Richardson. Spencer curling! Baseline! DIAZ! And a whistle and foul!"
This year will be different. Gus will be at home in New York during the NCAA tournament. He left CBS last year and moved to Fox. March Madness will find a new maestro.
He's OK with that, Gus says. His future is bright. It includes play-by-play for the Big Ten Network, which brought him to Lincoln.
"Hulls in the frontcourt. Crosses over. To the cup. No good! Loose! Hulls gets it! Throws it! And that's it! Nebraska knocks off the No. 13 team in the land!
Two hours before tip-off, before the Devaney Center opened its doors to the fans, Johnson sat down with the World-Herald's Dirk Chatelain and discussed his Big Ten roots, his humble beginnings as a broadcaster, his thoughts on Nebraska and his favorite NCAA tournament games:
Q: What do you think of Big Ten basketball this year? Is it exciting enough for you?
A: "Yeah, it's great. I think it's the best conference in America."
Q: You're from Detroit, right?
A: "Born and raised. Grew up a Michigan and Michigan State fan; Michigan first."
Q: What was the Michigan sports scene like growing up?
A: "We just had so many great players. First of all, Bo Schembechler, he was the greatest of all time. As a matter of fact, if I have a daughter, I'm going to name her Bo. If I'm allowed to."
Q: You went back to Howard University in Washington D.C. Is that where you got your first play-by-play experience?
A: "I was the voice of the Howard University women's basketball team. I had a little remote setup and I would plug into a phone line and broadcast just to the dorms on campus."
Q: I'm guessing it wasn't a big audience.
A: "Actually, people would listen. I was a baseball player, so a lot of my teammates would listen. Football players would listen. Guys in the dorm would listen. Our women's team was good."
Q: That was 1989. Seven years later, you called your first big NCAA tournament game: Princeton's first-round upset of the defending champion, UCLA. You were 28.
A: "Yeah. I was a baby. It was crazy. I remember five guys from Princeton playing the most unselfish basketball that I think I've ever seen. ... They were like music, an incredible band that was so connected and interwoven with each other. We can do great things if we work together and that was one of those nights."
Q: Of all the NCAA tournament games you've called, what's your favorite?
A: "I would say Xavier-Kansas State (2010) and Ohio State-Xavier (2007). Xavier-Kansas State was a game, man. Double overtime! In high altitude! Woooo! Man, that was fun! Late at night, everybody watching. When (Xavier's Jordan) Crawford hit that shot (from about 30 feet) to send it to double overtime, man, it's magic! There's no better feeling than to be part of something like that."
Q: Are you going to miss calling the NCAA tournament?
A: "Of course. I'm going to miss it a lot."
Q: Are you going to watch it?
A: "I don't know. I don't know. I think I am. But this time I'm going to watch it with my son. My son is 8. We're going to be fans together."
Q: How are you adapting to college football? You covered games this year at Texas and USC, among others.
A: "It was challenging. College football is very hard. Double numbers. Over 100 guys on the team. It's not an easy sport to call. But football is football. I had fun doing it this year. Seemed like we got some pretty decent responses to the work."
Q: You called the Big Ten football championship game.
A: "What a game that was. As an announcer, it was incredible. As a Michigan State fan — if my dad would've been watching the game together — we would've simultaneously put our foot through the television when that official threw that flag. Man, I couldn't believe that."
Q: So on the air, you can suppress your love for the Michigan schools?
A: "I have to. It's like split personalities. I called my mom after the game and she was like, 'Son, why would they do that to us?' I'm part of 'us!'"
Q: What do you think of Nebraska in this league?
A: "I think it's incredible that we managed to get Nebraska. Nebraska! Especially in football. I think it's incredibly cool. I think it's going to provide years and years of excitement. It's going to be a bloodsport in the Big Ten. In basketball, Nebraska is a great addition as well. They're going to get good."
* * *
In Wednesday's second half, the Huskers were very good. And Thursday afternoon, 24 hours after the interview, the World-Herald sent Johnson a text message. What did he think of his first Big Ten game at Nebraska?
His text reply: "AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
If you're scoring at home, that's 15 exclamation points.
Contact the writer:
402-649-1461, dirk.chatelain@owh.com
twitter.com/dirkchatelain
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