Top Shelf (7)

Always dangerous, always controversial, but as I have mentioned before, always so much FUN.

Here are my top seven college basketball analysts/play by play people I have ever heard. You can add to the mix, but these are MY choices. As I like to write mainly about west coast basketball, the list has a strong flavor and history  to the area. I stuck strictly with TV, radio, oh there is nothing like radio, will come later.

1. Dan Shulman ------- He  is the best play by play sports announcer I have ever heard period. He simply has it all and he could make sand castle building interesting. ESPN has a gem here and I have a feeling they will never let him go. Could work with anyone and make them better, the sign of a true pro.

2. Dick Vitale----- Say what you want about him, he has sustained at the top of his game for nearly 30 years. He is Mr. Basketball when it comes to the media and his sharpness never waivers. If you ever meet him, he treats you like your favorite next door neighbor, a lost art.

3. Ron Thulin---- Ron has a smooth delivery, is always prepared and gives you just enough to keep you interested in the game, but never too much. Ron also will never get enough credit for being one of the pioneers of the NBA cable games on TNT in the early 90s. You can now often see and hear him on the Fox  national college TV game. Smooth as silk and great enthusiasm.

4. Jimmy Dykes---- I hope ESPN realizes what they have here in Dykes. He is the successor in my opinion to Dick Vitale, not Jay Bilas. As prepared and as passionate as any basketball analyst you will ever get to hear, young people if you want to get in the business, a great guy to study and copy.

5. Dick Enberg----Too bad today's young people never got to hear him call UCLA games live. A total flow to his work, another guy who can make any sport interesting, as evidenced by his work on tennis,(is tennis still a sport, woops) but he is and always will be a top shelf college basketball play by play announcer.

6. Dan Belluomini--- The dean of west coast basketball analysts. As prepared a person as you will ever hear on a broadcast, Fox made a HUGE, DUMB, error in taking him off their regional team two years past. Plus, Dan never gets caught up in ripping officials, as many of the clowns do today on broadcasts. He exudes class.

7. Rob Closs--- Some of you down in Texas, are saying who? Well since you only get to hear Rob on Oregon Ducks television broadcasts, you are missing a treat. Straight forward, funny when he needs to be, but you will never see him lost or out of touch with the game, as he does his homework and brings it each and every night.

Ok, take your best shot, of course I am never wrong, lol, but at least this list should get you thinking.

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