Bill Raftery

Not to be confused with the comedian and impressionist, Bill Rafferty.

Bill Raftery
Sport(s)	Basketball, golf
Biographical details
Born	April 19, 1943 (1943-04-19)
Playing career
Basketball 1961–1964	La Salle
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
Basketball 1965–1970 1970–1981	Fairleigh Dickinson–Florham Seton Hall
Head coaching record
Overall	217–188 (basketball)
Accomplishments and honors
Awards
New Jersey Sports Writers Association Coach of the Year (1979)

Bill Raftery (born April 19, 1943) is an American basketball analyst and play-by-play announcer and former college basketball coach.

Biography

High School

Raftery was, for more than 35 years, the alltime leading scorer in Hudson County high school basketball history until being surpassed by Puerto Rican basketball star Rick Apodaca and was awarded the New Jersey high school All-State selections not just in basketball, but also in soccer and baseball at St. Cecilia High School in Kearny, New Jersey. He has been named, retroactively, Mr. Basketball USA for 1959.

College

Raftery played at La Salle University under coach Donald "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 the National Invitation Tournament.

Following his senior year at La Salle, Raftery was drafted by the New York Knicks making it to the final cut, but he never played in the NBA.

Coaching career

From 1970 to 1981, he was the head coach of Seton Hall University where he had a 154–141 win-loss record and led the Pirates to four ECAC post-season tournaments and two National Invitational Tournament appearances. His 154 wins as a coach places him fourth on the all-time list at Seton Hall behind Honey Russell, P.J. Carlesimo, and Frank Hill. Prior to his job at Seton Hall, he was at Fairleigh Dickinson University at Florham Park where he coached basketball (leading the team to an NIT berth) and golf, and also served as Associate Athletic Director. In 1979, he was named Coach of the Year by the New Jersey Sports Writers Association.

Broadcasting career

He has served as an analyst and play-by-play announcer for CBS Sports' college basketball coverage for over 23 years. During CBS' play-by-play coverage of March Madness, Raftery is frequently partnered with Verne Lundquist. Raftery's first comment after the opening tip usually references his play-by-play man's name and identifies the team that lost the tip's initial defense in the game, e.g. "And, Verne Lundquist, Villanova goes man-to-man" with the "man-to-man" phrase being said very rapidly. On occasions when the defending team does not start out in a man-to-man defense, Raftery's tone will often echo some professed disappointment. - His trademark quotes are "Onions!", and "Send it in Big Fella!". He is especially remembered for "Send it in, Jerome!", his call immediately after Jerome Lane of Pitt shattered the backboard with a dunk during a 1988 game. Raftery is also an analyst with ESPN, primarily partnered with Sean McDonough and Jay Bilas and formerly Mike Gorman on Big East action; he also serves an analyst for CBS Radio/Westwood One's coverage of the NCAA Men's Final Four along with Kevin Kugler and John Thompson. Raftery has also served as an analyst for the New Jersey Nets and served as an on-course commentator for Champions Tour events.

Personal life

Raftery earned a bachelor degree in history from La Salle University and a masters degree in education from Seton Hall. In 2001, he received an honorary doctorate from La Salle. Aside from his ESPN and CBS commentating duties, Raftery is the president of W.J. Raftery Associates, an event/marketing firm. He lives in Florham Park, New Jersey with his wife, Joan and has four children and three grandchildren.