Gus Johnson (sportscaster)

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Gus Johnson (b. in Detroit, Michigan) is an American sports announcer. He is best known for his play-by-play coverage of CBS Sports' March Madness.

1 Education
2 Early career
3 Current roles
4 External links

[edit] Education

Johnson graduated from Howard University with a degree in political science in 1990 and was a four-year letter winner on the school's baseball team. He went to High School at University of Detroit Jesuit in Detroit, where he was an honorable mention All-State point guard and an All-Catholic League defensive back.

[edit] Early career

Johnson called play-by-play for the Detroit Tigers Major League Baseball franchise (1998–1999), the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves (1996–1997), Big East Basketball on the Big East Network, college hockey and college basketball on ESPN, and Canadian Football League games for ESPN2.

Johnson hosted ESPN's Black College Sports Today in 1991. After brief stints as an on-air personality with KXXV-TV in Waco, Texas, WAAY-TV in Huntsville, Alabama, and WXII-TV in Greensboro, North Carolina, he served as the weekend anchor for WTTG-TV in Washington, D.C. from 1991 to 1992.

[edit] Current roles

Johnson has covered numerous sports for CBS, with his most recognized role as a play-by-play announcer for CBS' March Madness since 1996. He may be best known for his yelling and almost screaming play-by-play calls at the end of NCAA Tournament games. He is known for his call of the end of a UCLA/Gonzaga game in 2006, which has been described as "incoherent" by several columnists and viewers. Some of his other well known calls include Vermont's 2005 upset over Syracuse and Princeton's 43-41 upset over UCLA. With CBS, he has also called play-by-play for the NFL, college basketball, college football, track and field, boxing, and bobsled/luge at the 1998 Winter Olympics.

Since 1994, Johnson has worked for Madison Square Garden Network (MSG), where he serves as an anchor and reporter for SportsDesk. He is the current radio voice of the NBA's New York Knicks and also provides play-by-play for Madison Square Garden Network's coverage of the WNBA's New York Liberty. He has also provided commentary for MSG's coverage of the Golden Gloves Tournament and served as host of the "Yankees ScoreCard", as well as the New York Rangers and Knicks "GameNight". He also serves as the preseason TV voice for the Buffalo Bills. His excitable nature has led to Johnson becoming a target of both praise and criticism. [1]