In 30th year at ESPN, Jay Bilas opens up on Duke, UNC and Cooper Flagg’s NBA prospects
In 1995, former Duke basketball player Jay Bilas was an attorney living in Charlotte who also moonlighted as a basketball broadcaster.
The money wasn’t great — $200 per game plus expenses to call Duke basketball contests on the radio. But he enjoyed it. With no grand plan in place, Bilas kept working his caseload by day and driving to Durham for games.
Then ESPN called, asking Bilas to broadcast a single game. It wasn’t a particularly glamorous assignment: UNC Greensboro vs. Charleston Southern in the Big South championship in Lynchburg, Virginia, on March 4, 1995.
Bilas jumped at the chance.
“It was a blast,” he said. “I really enjoyed it. And I guess I didn’t screw it up, because they kept asking me.”
Now, almost exactly 30 years later, Bilas, 61, is ESPN’s top college basketball broadcaster and routinely assigned to the most prestigious games across the network’s TV inventory. That means he will broadcast No. 2 Duke’s 6:30 pm game at UNC on Saturday in Chapel Hill. That also means he won’t be calling the ACC men’s tournament in Charlotte next week — the SEC is ranked so much higher than the ACC as a basketball conference this year that ESPN assigned Bilas to the SEC Tournament in Nashville instead.
I visited with Bilas this week at his home in Charlotte to talk about Duke, UNC and Cooper Flagg (who Bilas believes will leave for the NBA after this season). Here are excerpts from that interview, edited for clarity and brevity.
Q: Over 30 years with ESPN, how many basketball games do you think you’ve called live?
A: It would probably be in the range of 40 a year. It’s been over that for the last several years — maybe up to around 50 with the NBA (Bilas has now branched out into calling NBA games and has broadcast about a dozen of them so far this season).
Q: How did you fight the perception of being a “Duke guy” in your career? You played in the Final Four for Duke in the 1980s, you were an assistant coach at Duke, you had done Duke basketball on the radio ...
A: I don’t think I fought it. I was mindful that people may have that perception. But my whole thing was: ‘Just be fair.’ I don’t think fair is difficult. ...
My thing was: I don’t play for Duke anymore.
And when you go to all these practices and games, and you study how different coaches and programs do their thing, what I came away with is a deep respect for how they do it, and you wanted to kind of tell that story. ... I’m too old now to care who wins, and I don’t think I’ve ever cared.
You go into the game hoping for a good game. You root for a compelling game. ... Nobody wants a 25-point blowout. ... So when North Carolina is a better team, you say it. When Roy Williams did the better job, you say it. When Hubert Davis is the better coach, you say it. And when Duke is, you say it. It’s really not that difficult.
Q: UNC got blown out at Duke a month ago. Can the Tar Heels make it closer in Chapel Hill?
A: They can win. North Carolina — and I’ve said this all year long — they’re far better than their record. They’ve shown that over the last five games or so. ... (UNC has won six straight games entering the contest, while Duke has only lost once since late November). They’ve had more talented teams in the past, but they’re way better than they’ve played. ... With RJ Davis in his last game in the Smith Center, my sense is that it’s going to be a really competitive, great game. ... Do I think Duke’s a better team this year? Yeah, I do.
I think Duke and Auburn are the two best teams in the country. But Duke got beat at Clemson. They can get beat, and I think Carolina can really challenge them.
Q: How does Cooper Flagg’s freshman year at Duke compare to the top players you’ve ever covered?
A: He is the most well-rounded, competitive freshman I’ve ever seen. And he’s the most well-rounded, competitive freshman Duke’s ever had, at least in my time. They don’t make them like him very often. I think he’s Christian Laettner-like in his competitive spirit. He never takes a play off. He’s so alert to what’s going on on the floor. ... There were a number of people who said, “C’mon, man, is Cooper Flagg really this good?” And you’re like: “Yeah. Watch it. And if you watch it and you feel otherwise, then call me.”
It was kind of like when LeBron came out of high school. They’re two different cats. LeBron was this physically imposing, super-skilled, high IQ player. You’re going, “As long as he stays healthy, he’s a Hall of Famer.” And you feel kind of the same way about Cooper Flagg, in a different way. He’s the complete package.
Q: You think Flagg is having a better freshman season than Zion Williamson did?
A: Not as impactful to SportsCenter. ... Zion was just captivating. Cooper doesn’t check that box of the “I’ve never seen anybody that looks like this before” like Zion did. I’d never seen anybody like Zion on a basketball floor. You’ve seen people built like Cooper. But he’s the whole package.
Q: You cover the NBA too, and the NBA Draft, and so you’re well-versed in that league. Will Flagg be a star in the NBA, or just a starter?
A: He’s gonna be a star and the No. 1 draft pick. Barely 18 years old. ... I happen to believe Grant Hill was the best player Duke’s ever produced. Grant Hill as a freshman wasn’t what Cooper Flagg is as a freshman.
Q: Any chance he stays in school for one more year after this Duke season ends?
A: It’s a pretty good bet that Cooper Flagg would go to the NBA. You start thinking about the business side of it, and all the risk is in staying. ... Tim Duncan did it, but that was a long time ago. ... The ones that are the real deal, and he’s the real deal, can pretty much do whatever they want to. ... But he could get hurt, so it’s a difficult argument to make (to stay).
It’s not just the amount of money you’re going to make now. It’s that you get to your second contract faster. This isn’t like being a lawyer or a doctor where you can work into your late 60s. If you’re going to have a longer career, you need to add those years on the front end.
Q: Speaking of careers, how long do you want to broadcast games?
A: I’m not naive enough to think I’m going to try to do it until I’m 80-something. It’s more a year-to-year thing. Physically, I feel great. I have thought about what would make me want to get out. And the only thing that I can come up with is the travel.
Q: How many nights a year are you on the road for?
A: I don’t count because it would be depressing. But during basketball season, I’m gone a good four or five days a week. ... I fly commercial 95% of the time.
Q: Where do you see your career going in the next 5-10 years?
A: I’ve never looked at it that way. I never had a destination in mind. ... I’ve always just tried to enjoy what I was doing. ... Whatever game I’m doing, that’s the center of the universe to me. I would love to do a bunch of things, in the abstract. I’ve never looked at my schedule, though, and gone: “Gosh, I wish I had somebody else’s schedule.” I just look at it and go: “That’s gonna be cool.”
My dad always said if you want a job, do the one you’ve got. So I’ve always tried to do that.
This story was originally published March 5, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
