- Live Highlights of Team Practices on SportsCenter on Friday; Saturday and Monday Editions of College GameDay Leading into Semifinals and Championship
- ESPN International Programming Spans Across More Than 200 Countries
- Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s and Men’s Positional Award Winners to be Announced
ESPN will provide extensive coverage of the 2021 NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championship Final Four this weekend. The College GameDay Covered by State Farm team – Rece Davis, Jay Bilas, LaPhonso Ellis and Seth Greenberg – will deliver insight and analysis across various shows leading up to the semifinals and championship, beginning with live reporting from team practices during the noon edition of SportsCenter. Reporter Allison Williams will be on-site in Indianapolis for SportsCenter, College GameDay and other shows across ESPN.
College GameDay will be live from ESPN studios in Bristol, Conn., on Saturday, April 3, at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN. Guests will include Dick Vitale, who recently signed a new extension, Kentucky head coach John Calipari, former UCLA player and college basketball analyst Sean Farnham, former Baylor player and current ESPN analyst King McClure, and UCLA legend and college basketball analyst Bill Walton.
Monday’s two-hour edition of College GameDay on ESPN2 (April 5, 7 p.m.) with Davis, Bilas, Ellis and Greenberg will breakdown the matchup between the final two teams vying for the national championship, and take a look back at the unique 2020-2021 season.
Highlights include:
- Friendship between two standouts: Gonzaga’s Jalen Suggs and UConn’s Paige Bueckers join Holly Rowe to talk about their close relationship, and how they inspire and motivate each other
- Analysis from NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship Presented by Capital One, previewing Sunday’s national championship matchup
- With Houston’s return to the Final Four after 37 years, GameDay takes a look back at the phenomenon that was Phi Slama Jama
- Wright Thompson reflects on what it would mean for Gonzaga to go undefeated, and why so many others in all sports fall short in the quest for perfection
- Mic’d up with Baylor head coach Scott Drew
- A look back at UCLA’s unlikely run to the Final Four
- Live and immediate postgame insight on SportsCenter following games
College Basketball Awards
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame men’s and women’s positional award winners will also be announced during ESPN’s Final Four studio programming this weekend. The women’s positional award winners are set to be unveiled within the Women’s Final Four studio shows on Friday and Sunday by host Maria Taylor and analysts Andy Landers and Carolyn Peck, which includes the Nancy Lieberman Award (Point Guard of the Year), Ann Meyers Drysdale Award (Shooting Guard of the Year), Cheryl Miller Award (Small Forward of the Year), Katrina McClain Award (Power Forward of the Year), and Lisa Leslie Award (Center of the Year).
The men’s positional awards will be revealed during Saturday’s College GameDay, and include the Bob Cousy Award (Point Guard of the Year), Jerry West Award (Shooting Guard of the Year), Julius Erving Award (Small Forward of the Year), Karl Malone Award (Power Forward of the Year) and the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award (Center of the Year).
The 2021 John R. Wooden Award presented by Wendy’s, awarded to the women’s and men’s player of the year, will also be announced next week during the 6 p.m. edition of SportsCenter on ESPN. The John R. Wooden Award presented by Wendy’s (Player of the Year – Women) will be unveiled on Monday, April 5, while the John R. Wooden Award presented by Wendy’s (Player of the Year – Men) is set to be shared on Tuesday, April 6, also on SportsCenter. Both recipients are expected to join live for interviews.
ESPN Presents Global Coverage
ESPN International will televise the semifinals and championship game to fans in over 200 countries outside the United States:
- Sean McDonough is on play-by-play for both matchups, alongside Bilas on the second semifinal (UCLA vs. Gonzaga) and Vitale for the first semifinal (Houston vs. Baylor) and the championship game.
- Programming on ESPN networks in Latin America (Mexico, Central and South America), Oceania, the Netherlands, Africa and the Caribbean; and via TSN in Canada, BT Sport in the UK and Tencent in China.
- ESPN broadband services around the world – under the ESPN Player, WatchESPN and ESPN Play brands – will also provide live and on-demand coverage of every game of the tournament.
- Additionally, worldwide, ESPN Syndication has completed deals to distribute the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament to local clients reaching tens of millions of homes in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
ESPN.com
ESPN.com writers Myron Medcalf and Jeff Borzello will be on site in Indy, providing real-time reporting and analysis throughout Final Four weekend. In addition to game coverage and surrounding events, ESPN.com will unveil its popular “Way-Too-Early Top 25” rankings for the 2021-22 season on Monday night.
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