John Kenneth Andariese (August 19, 1938 – March 13, 2017), nicknamed "Johnny Hoops", was a New York

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

analyst on both radio and television for more than 40 years. Andariese broadcast for the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

and announced some of the most memorable Knicks games ever played.John Andariese
/ref> He also is well known for hosting ''NBA Legends with Johnny Hoops'' on

NBA TV NBA TV is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and operated by Warner Bros. Discovery through TNT Sports. Dedicated to basketball, the network features exhibition, regular se ...

Playing career

Andariese played college basketball for the

Fordham Rams The Fordham Rams are the varsity sports teams for Fordham University. Their colors are maroon and white. The Fordham Rams are members of NCAA Division I and compete in the Atlantic 10 Conference for most sports. In football, the Rams play in t ...

under coach

Johnny Bach John William Bach (July 10, 1924 – January 18, 2016) was an American professional basketball player and coach. A forward/guard, Bach played college basketball at Fordham University and Brown University. He was selected by the Boston Celtics ...

from 1956 to 1960. He was a three time All-City player during those years. Andariese led his team to two

National Invitational Tournament The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...

s and was team captain during his senior year at

Fordham Fordham may refer to: Education * Fordham Preparatory School, an all-male, Jesuit high school in New York City * Fordham University, a Jesuit university in New York City ** Fordham Rams, athletic teams of the above university ** Fordham University ...

. In his senior year, he averaged 13.0 points and 8.7 rebounds per game.

After graduation

Andariese was a star player during his college days. After graduating from Fordham, he served in the U.S. Army, and later played for the

Allentown Jets The Allentown Jets were a minor league basketball team that played in the Eastern Professional Basketball League (later the Eastern Basketball Association and Continental Basketball Association) from 1958 to 1981. The team was one of the most suc ...

of the

Eastern Professional Basketball League The Continental Basketball Association (CBA), originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association, was a men's professional basketball m ...

Broadcasting career

Andariese's broadcasting career began with college games in the 1968–69 season before he joined the Knicks as a radio analyst for the 1972–73 season, where he teamed with

Marv Albert Marv Albert (born Marvin Philip Aufrichtig; June 12, 1941) is an American former sportscaster. Honored for his work by the Basketball Hall of Fame, he was commonly referred to as "the voice of basketball". From 1967 to 2004, he was also know ...

, who had been calling the play-by-play since 1967. He was paired with Albert through the 1976–1977 season, and again from 1982 to 1986 and 1998 to 2014, and is well represented on the list of New York Knicks broadcasters in both radio and television.

National work

In 1983, Andariese became the first

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as a summariser (outside North America) ...

for the ''

NBA on ESPN ''NBA on ESPN'' is an American television sports presentation show broadcast by ESPN. It aired from 1982 to 1984. The show returned since October 30, 2002. It consists of branding used for the presentation of National Basketball Association gam ...

''. When ESPN lost its NBA contract, he joined the ''

NBA on TBS The ''NBA on TBS'' is an American presentation of National Basketball Association (NBA) regular season and playoff game telecasts that aired on the American cable and satellite network TBS. The games were produced by Turner Sports, the sports div ...

'', where he broadcast games nationally from

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

. He was part of TBS' coverage of the

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

and

NBA Eastern Conference finals with

Skip Caray Harry Christopher "Skip" Caray Jr. (August 12, 1939 – August 3, 2008) was an American sportscaster, best known for his long career as a radio and television play-by-play announcer for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball. He was the s ...

. He also spent ten years as a

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

analyst for

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division for NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, that is responsible for sports broadcasts on their broadcast network NBC, the Cable television, cable channels NBC owns, and on Peacock (streaming service) ...

. Andariese was also one of the first collegiate basketball color analysts for ESPN. He later became co-host of NBA2Night with

Greg Gumbel Gregory Girard Gumbel (May 3, 1946 – December 27, 2024) was an American television sportscaster. He was best known for his various assignments for CBS Sports (most notably, the National Football League and NCAA basketball). He became the firs ...

. Unlike most NBA analysts, he never played or coached professionally.

Return to the Knicks' broadcasting team

Andariese rejoined the Knicks' television broadcasting team in

as the team's analyst on the

MSG Network The MSG Network (MSG) is an American regional cable and satellite television network, and radio service owned by Sphere Entertainment -- a spin-off of the main Madison Square Garden Company operation (itself a spin-off of local cable provid ...

. He remained on the Knicks television broadcasts until

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, when he was replaced by radio analyst

Walt Frazier Walter "Clyde" Frazier Jr. (born March 29, 1945) is an American former professional basketball player of the National Basketball Association (NBA). As their floor general and top perimeter defender, he led the New York Knicks to the franchise's o ...

. This allowed Andariese to reunite with Albert on the Knicks' radio broadcasts. Andariese also worked alongside Gus Johnson. For the 2010–11 season, he began working with Mike Crispino. Andariese was a key part of the Knicks' coverage, and was known for announcing some of the most memorable moments in Knicks basketball. He retired in 2012.

Television broadcasting

* 1986–89 –

WWOR-TV WWOR-TV (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York metropolitan area as the flagship of the MyNetworkTV programming service. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alon ...

color commentator John Andariese with play-by-play Marv Albert * 1989–97 – MSG Network color commentator John Andariese with play-by-play Marv Albert * 1997–98 – MSG Network color commentator John Andariese with play-by-play

Mike Breen Michael Breen (born May 22, 1961) is an American play-by-play sports commentator. He has been the lead announcer for National Basketball Association, NBA games on NBA on ABC, ABC and NBA on ESPN, ESPN since 2006, including the NBA Finals. He is ...

Radio broadcasting

* 1972–74 – WNBC-FM – John Andariese and Marv Albert * 1974–76 – WNEW – John Andariese and Marv Albert * 1982–84 – WNEW – John Andariese and Marv Albert * 1984–85 – WPAT – John Andariese and Marv Albert * 1985–86 – WNBC – John Andariese and Marv Albert * 1998–2000 – WFAN – John Andariese and Marv Albert * 2000–04 – WFAN – John Andariese and Mike Breen * 2004–05 – WFAN – John Andariese and Gus Johnson * 2005–10 – WEPN – John Andariese and Gus Johnson * 2010–14 – WEPN-FM – John Andriese and

Spero Dedes Spero Dedes (; born February 27, 1979) is an American sportscaster. He is currently employed by CBS Sports, calling the NFL and college basketball games, and TNT Sports, calling NBA and college basketball games. He has previously worked as t ...

Business career

Andariese was the chief executive officer and founder of TViMedia, an advertising sales company based in Manhattan, New York.

Awards

Andariese was inducted into the Fordham Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978, the

New York City Basketball Hall of Fame The New York City Basketball Hall of Fame celebrates over 120 years of basketball history in the city that has come to be known as the "Mecca of Basketball" aka in New York City - recognizing and honoring the best basketball players, coaches, re ...

in 2009 and The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a

Curt Gowdy Award The Curt Gowdy Media Award is an annual award given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to outstanding basketball writers and broadcasters. It is named for American sportscaster Curt Gowdy, who was the Hall of Fame's president for ...

winner of 2014. Andariese died on March 13, 2017, at age 78.

Quotes

"After what seems like a lifetime behind the microphone and having the good fortune and privilege to be part of nearly 40 years of Knicks' history, I've decided it's time to step away to spend time with my wonderful wife Maureen, my three beautiful daughters and my four grandchildren... I've been blessed to be able to cover one of the greatest sports teams on the planet, one with the most knowledgeable and passionate fans. It's now time to shift my focus to my family and my position as CEO of TVI Media. I'm grateful to MSG Networks and the Knicks for giving me this wonderful opportunity and for all of the love and affection shown to me by our New York basketball savvy fans, who have been such an important part of my life. I'm pleased beyond words to have been able to share my enthusiasm and passion for Knicks basketball with them. I'll miss you all."

References

External links

MSG Network profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Andariese, John 1938 births 2017 deaths American color commentators American men's basketball players College basketball announcers in the United States ESPN announcers Fordham Rams men's basketball players Gabelli School of Business alumni Mass media people from Brooklyn NBA broadcasters New York Knicks announcers Television personalities from New York City 20th-century American sportsmen