I've been listening to (watching) Bill a lot over the past two days at the Maui Invitational. It's really fun and entertaining to hear him reminiscing about the "heyday" of NCAA college basketball (probably the 1960's, 1970's, and 1980's when the NCAA first became a national phenom AND when schools were identified by their superstar players who you knew would return to the program season-after-season.) Just a few examples -- Oscar Robertson's Cincinnati Bearcats, Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton's UCLA Bruins, Patrick Ewing's Georgetown Hoyas, Steve Alford's Indiana Hoosiers, Chris Mullin's St. Johns Redmen and Danny Manning's Kansas Jayhawks..
Walton has phenomenal stories and anecdotes, an incredible memory, and he's visited sooooooo many college campuses. (I've said this before, but I'm quite sure I saw him on Wright St on Halloween in the mid/late 1980's). Pretty difficult to mistake a 6'11 UCLA 3-time All American --- with red hair.
His announcing partner Jason Benetti is the perfect straight man, and nearly as worldly, having visited 95% of the same places as Walton. Benetti is savvy at keeping BW just inside the rails, but then also provoking him when the game action warrants. Extreme entertainment in my view! I don't really want game-after-game of the predictable. (Robbie Hummel and Shon Morris and Ben Brust? Meh).
And he knows/remembers the Illini because of Nick Weatherspoon and Nick Connor, Efrem and Bruce, Deon and Kenny Norman, Dee/Deron/Luther.....and now Ayo and Kofi.