 Raftery at the2009 NCAA tournament. | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1943-04-19)April 19, 1943 (age 82) Orange, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Career information | |
| High school | Saint Cecilia (Kearny, New Jersey) |
| College | La Salle (1960–1963) |
| NBA draft | 1963: 14th round, 82nd overall pick |
| Drafted by | New York Knicks |
| Position | Guard |
| Coaching career | 1963–1981 |
| Career history | |
Coaching | |
| 1963–1968 | Fairleigh Dickinson–Madison |
| 1970–1981 | Seton Hall |
| Career highlights | |
As player:
As head coach:
| |
Stats atBasketball Reference  | |
William Joseph Raftery (born April 19, 1943) is an Americanbasketball analyst and former college basketball coach.
Born William Joseph Raftery[1] inOrange, New Jersey, and raised in nearbyKearny,[2] Raftery grew up in a Catholic family with Irish immigrant parents, Francis and Margaret.[3] He had a brother, Francis, and a sister, Rita, who was a Catholic nun (Sr. Francis Raftery) who served as president of theCollege of Saint Elizabeth.[4]
Raftery graduated in 1959 from the now defunctSt. Cecilia High School in Kearny, where he starred in basketball and became the all-time leading scorer in state history with 2,193 points, a record he held for nine years. (Shaheen Holloway, one of his successors as head coach atSeton Hall University, scored 42 fewer points andKyrie Irving had 113 fewer as New Jersey high school players.)[5] He earned all-state honors in basketball and led his team to the state championship in his senior season. He was also named all-state in baseball and soccer.[6] He has been named, retroactively,Mr. Basketball USA for 1959.[7]
Raftery played for theLa Salle Explorers men's basketball team under coachDonald "Dudey" Moore. During his freshman year he scored a freshman record 370 points, followed by a team leading 17.8 points per game in his sophomore year. As a senior, he co-captained the Explorers to theNational Invitation Tournament.[8] Just before graduating with aB.A. in history, he was selected in the 14th round (82nd overall) of the1963 NBA draft by theNew York Knicks, but he never played in the NBA.[9][10]
Raftery began his coaching career atFairleigh Dickinson University at Madison (now inFlorham Park, New Jersey) where he was the head basketball coach from 1963 to 1968.[9] There, Raftery also coached golf and served as associate athletic director.
From 1970 to 1981, Raftery was the head coach of theSeton Hall Pirates, where he posted a 154–141 record and led the team to fourECAC postseason tournaments and two National Invitational Tournament appearances. In 1979, he was named Coach of the Year by the New Jersey Sports Writers Association.[11] His 154 wins as a coach places him fifth on the all-time list at Seton Hall behindHoney Russell,P. J. Carlesimo, Frank Hill, andKevin Willard.
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairleigh Dickinson–Madison Devils[12](NCAA College Division independent)(1963–1968) | |||||||||
| 1963–64 | Fairleigh Dickinson–Madison | 8–10 | |||||||
| 1964–65 | Fairleigh Dickinson–Madison | 10–12 | |||||||
| 1965–66 | Fairleigh Dickinson–Madison | 12–10 | |||||||
| 1966–67 | Fairleigh Dickinson–Madison | 15–9 | |||||||
| 1967–68 | Fairleigh Dickinson–Madison | 18–6 | |||||||
| Fairleigh Dickinson–Madison: | 63–47 | ||||||||
| Seton Hall Pirates[13](NCAA University Division / Division I independent)(1970–1976) | |||||||||
| 1970–71 | Seton Hall | 11–15 | |||||||
| 1971–72 | Seton Hall | 10–16 | |||||||
| 1972–73 | Seton Hall | 8–17 | |||||||
| 1973–74 | Seton Hall | 16–11 | NIT First Round | ||||||
| 1974–75 | Seton Hall | 16–11 | |||||||
| 1975–76 | Seton Hall | 18–9 | |||||||
| Seton Hall Pirates(New Jersey-New York 7 Conference)(1976–1979) | |||||||||
| 1976–77 | Seton Hall | 18–11 | 3–1 | T–1st | NIT First Round | ||||
| 1977–78 | Seton Hall | 16–11 | 1–5 | 6th | |||||
| 1978–79 | Seton Hall | 16–11 | 5–1 | 2nd | |||||
| Seton Hall Pirates(Big East Conference)(1979–1981) | |||||||||
| 1979–80 | Seton Hall | 14–13 | 1–5 | 6th | |||||
| 1980–81 | Seton Hall | 11–16 | 4–10 | 7th | |||||
| Seton Hall: | 154–141 | 14–22 | |||||||
| Total: | 217–188 | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||
Raftery said it was during his senior year in college, when La Salle was competing in the NIT, that legendary New York sportscasterBob Wolff suggested he eventually consider a career in broadcasting. “It always stuck in my head,” Raftery said. “It was just one of those things in the back of my head, and I said, ‘This will keep me in the game that I enjoy.’”[14]
He began his broadcasting career as co-host ofESPN’sCollege Hoops Tonight in 1980. He began callingNew Jersey Nets games in 1982.[15]
Raftery has served as an analyst and color commentator forCBS Sports'college basketball coverage since 1983. During CBS' coverage ofMarch Madness, Raftery had long partnerships withJames Brown (1990–93) andSean McDonough (1995–99) but rose to prominence during his 15-year partnership (2000–14) withVerne Lundquist.[16][17]
During the 2014–15 collegiate basketball season, CBS/Turner Sports partnered Raftery withJim Nantz andGrant Hill to make up the primary announcing team for the remainder of the regular season following the arrest ofGreg Anthony for soliciting a prostitute, all the way through the NCAA men's basketball tournament and theFinal Four.[18]
Raftery was also an analyst with ESPN, primarily partnered withSean McDonough andJay Bilas and formerlyMike Gorman forBig East games.
Before CBS elevated him to their primary announcing team, he served as an analyst forCBS Radio/Westwood One's coverage of theNCAA Men's Final Four from 1991 to 2014[19] working in later years withKevin Kugler andJohn Thompson.
After the media rights for the Big East moved from ESPN to Fox Sports in 2013, Raftery signed withFox Sports to call Big East basketball games on the upstart networkFox Sports 1 withGus Johnson.[20]
Raftery was also the lead analyst for the Nets (prior to the franchise's move toBrooklyn) for over 20 years until 2002[21] and was an on-course commentator forPGA TourChampions Tour events.[8] While at CBS he also worked as an analyst for select NBA games, paired withBrent Musburger andDick Stockton.
Beginning with the 2024 NCAA Tournament, Raftery has been paired withIan Eagle,[22] his former partner with the Nets and frequent regular season college basketball partner.
His trademark quotes include:
Additionally, he is remembered for "Send It In, Jerome!", his call immediately afterJerome Lane of theUniversity of Pittsburghshattered the backboard with a powerfuldunk during a 1988 game.[24]
Aside from his commentating duties, Raftery was also the president of W.J. Raftery Associates, an event/marketing firm.[8]
Raftery earned anM.A.E. in education from Seton Hall University in 1966.[11][28] In 2001, he received an honorary doctorate from La Salle.[11][1]
Raftery and his wife, the former Joan Fleming, live in Florida.[29] Previously they lived inFlorham Park, New Jersey, where they raised four children, Billy, Kristi, Kelli and Suzi.[30] They have five grandchildren.[8]
In 2015, Billy and his father's broadcasting partner,Grant Hill, producedWith A Kiss, a documentary about Raftery's first shot at calling theFinal Four at age 71.[30] The documentary premiered in 2016, hours before the longtime broadcaster called his second Final Four as a television analyst forCBS Sports.[31] In 2018, Billy and Hill formed Point Road Productions.[32]
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |