Jim Nantz gives emotional sign-off on last March Madness game: Thank you for being my friend

Jim Nantz has been the voice of the Final Four for 32 years. After UConn defeated San Diego State to with its fifth national championship on Monday, he signed off one final time on a college basketball broadcast.

“I mean this — I’m not trying to play off ‘hello friends’ but to you, everybody in the college game day, CBS family, my family, all the viewers — thank you for being my friend,” Nantz said to wrap up the national championship coverage on CBS.

Nantz has been on the call for March Madness games every year since 1986 and will be sorely missed. He’s been around for some of the greatest moments in Final Four history, and his voice is synonymous with some of its greatest moments.

"Thank you for being my friend"

Jim Nantz with some amazing words as he wraps up his final National Title Game ❤️ pic.twitter.com/NtxPkxzcAp

— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) April 4, 2023

Despite Nantz’s emotional final call, he will still be lending his voice to the Master’s and the NFL later this year.

“I’m not retiring,” Nantz said, per USA TODAY Sports. “I’ve still got about 40 weeks a year to cover the NFL, the Super Bowl and golf for another dozen years or so.”

Monday’s final featuring the Aztecs and Huskies was Nantz’s 354th call in the NCAA Tournament. That run includes 32 calls in the national championship game and 96 in the Final Four over the course of 37 total NCAA Tournaments.

Even with all of those games and years of experience behind him, though, he says this tournament has been especially unique. More than ever, Nantz believes this tournament proved it’s true that this is an event tailor-made for ‘dreamers’. Not many people slotted a UConn vs. San Diego State national title game, which only made for a more fresh and exciting Final Four than in other seasons.

After the call, Nantz handed the national championship trophy to Dan Hurley and the UConn Huskies as the team celebrated amongst a sea of confetti. He got the inital reactions of Hurley and Final Four Most Outstanding Player Adama Sanogo after the game as well.

“We weren’t ranked going into the year so we had the chip on our shoulder. We knew the level that we could play at. So, even through those dark times and when you have a guy like Andre Jackson — who’s the captain of your team,” Hurley told Nantz. “And Adama Sanogo, it’s easy to get back on track.”

It will be a quick turnaround for Nantz, who is on the call for the Master’s this Thursday when action gets underway from Augusta, Georgia.