Jim Nantz praises Houston as 'throwback' team in NIL, transfer portal era after 2025 Final Four berth

INDIANAPOLIS – For more than 30 years, Jim Nantz had a courtside seat for March Madness. CBS’ lead NCAA Tournament play-by-play voice, he called some of the event’s biggest moments before announcing his retirement from calling college basketball games in 2023.

In the two years since, though, Nantz traded in his CBS sport coat and headset for a Houston Cougars sweatshirt and a seat in the stands. A proud UH alumnus (Class of 1981), he’s now a staple at the Cougars’ NCAA Tournament games – including Sunday’s Elite 8 victory over Tennessee at Lucas Oil Stadium to seal a spot in the 2025 Final Four.

Nantz sat a few rows up from the Houston bench, entrenched in a sea of red. It’s a different view from the one he had from 1990-2023. In fact, it’s a more challenging vantage point.

“It’s harder being in the stands with such a deep, passionate rooting interest,” Nantz told On3 amid Sunday’s celebration. “It’s not just being in the stands. It’s being in the stands for a university that gave me my chance to live my dream, and a basketball program that was the vehicle for me to go into the business and be able to get the experience while I was a kid and be able to chase my dreams.

“It’s very personal. It’s special.”

Houston’s journey to the Final Four, which will take place in San Antonio, is an interesting one in the era of NIL and the transfer portal. Despite the amount of player movement in college basketball, the Cougars only brought in one transfer last cycle: former Oklahoma guard Milos Uzan.

The rest of the group stuck together. That fact, Nantz said, is what makes Houston a “throwback” in college basketball’s current state.

“I hope that when we get into the week, people will look at this team as a throwback team to what college basketball used to be,” Nantz said. “Because our guys stayed. We use the portal every once in a while – genius pickup with Milos this year – but everybody else came back. Nobody does that anymore. We’re the most committed team in college basketball. I only called 32 Final Fours and national championships. This is a team that, two or three decades ago, would have been a force, could’ve won a national championship then. And this is the framework of the way college basketball used to be.

“And in the NIL era, and we all know that we have to participate in that, too. But still, you have people run. People leave. People don’t want to leave Camp [Kelvin] Sampson. They want to be around it. So as a result, as college sports moves forward, I hope there’s a great appreciation for what this represents in the NIL, new era of college basketball.”

Jim Nantz: ‘This is a team America should throw its arms around’

During the 2023 transfer cycle, Houston brought in two transfers. One of them – former Baylor guard LJ Cryer – was a key part of the 2025 Final Four run after opting to run it back. He’s once again Houston’s leading scorer.

Other big names followed suit. Emanuel Sharp returned and, after hitting the dagger against Tennessee, was the Midwest Region Most Outstanding Player. J’Wan Roberts also came back and leads Houston in rebounding for the third straight year.

That bond between the players who came back to the Cougars stands out to Jim Nantz. He thinks so highly of the group, he argued it could be a team the country rallies around next week in San Antonio.

“These kids care about their school, and they care about one another,” Nantz said. “And that is lost. That is truly lost in college athletics.

“This is a team America should throw its arms around and say, ‘I like these kids,’ because loyalty, in the end, is the word. It’s a loyal bunch that is really bonding. They are extraordinarily close, and they showed it tonight.”

How Jim Nantz became part of Houston’s celebration

When the buzzer sounded on Houston’s win, Jim Nantz made his way down from his seat to the court. Donning a CBS badge, he looked on as the Cougars celebrated on the stage after completing the 69-50 victory over Tennessee.

After the trophy presentation, he caught Kelvin Sampson’s eye. The coach then invited Nantz up to the stage, and he stood in front as cameras clicked for photos with the trophy.

Nantz, of course, is no stranger to trophy presentations from his time covering the Final Four. This one, though, he got to enjoy in a Houston sweatshirt with which he has a 3-0 record wearing. He didn’t expect to be called up with the team, but was sure to thank Sampson for the invitation.

“I’ve been on that platform with the trophy a lot of times, but I’m usually the guy presenting it,” Nantz said. “So it was very, very sweet of Kelvin to do that. Above and beyond. … That was amazing.”

Houston will take on Duke in the Final Four at the Alamodome April 5. Six days after that, The Masters get underway at Augusta National Golf Club. Nantz is preparing to once again serve as the voice of the event for CBS, but he now has to make a detour to Texas.

He planned for such a change, though. Nantz will be in San Antonio proudly supporting his Cougars before taking part in – as he says – a tradition unlike any other.

“This just changed my plans of my arrival date in to Augusta,” Nantz said of Houston’s victory. “I had it padded a little bit.

“But we’ll be okay. I won’t miss it.”