Dick Vitale and Charles Barkley will partner for two college basketball telecasts this season.
Vitale and Barkley will call the No. 25 Indiana at No. 19 Kentucky men’s basketball game on Dec. 13 on ESPN with play-by-play voice Dave O’Brien.
Vitale and the former Auburn star will reunite in March to call their first NCAA Tournament game as part of TNT Sports and CBS Sports’ First Four coverage.
“Dick and Charles are two of the most entertaining and iconic voices in basketball, so having them together on the same broadcast is a true gift for fans,” Burke Magnus, ESPN’s President of Content, said in a statement. “We are thrilled to have it come to fruition, especially for a marquee college basketball rivalry game like Indiana-Kentucky in primetime on ESPN.”
Vitale, who joined ESPN in 1979, has called more than 1,000 games over 46 years.
Barkley is one of sports television’s most recognizable analysts, known for his award-winning work across 25 years on TNT Sports’ Inside the NBA. His broadcasting career has made him a cultural icon whose voice resonates well beyond the basketball court.
“This is a unique opportunity for Dick and Charles, two of the biggest personalities in the game to be side-by-side calling games for the first time,” Craig Barry, executive vice president and chief content officer of TNT Sports, said in a release. “This is great for the game and the fans, we can’t wait to see what unfolds.”
