Andy Katz

Andy Katz
Katz in November 2013
Born	(1968-04-07) April 7, 1968 (age 57) Newton, Massachusetts, U.S.
Alma mater	University of Wisconsin, Madison B.A., History & Political Science (1990)
Occupation	sports reporter (basketball)
Years active	1989-present
Employer	ESPN (2000-2017) Big Ten Network (2017-present)
Title	Senior Writer
Board member of	former board member, United States Basketball Writers Association

President Obama fills out his picks for the NCAA Men's Div I Tournament with ESPN's Andy Katz. President Barack Obama picked North Carolina to win the National Championship when he shared his "Barack-etology" with Katz on March 18, 2009. Other teams in his Final Four were Pittsburgh, Louisville, and Memphis.

Andrew D. Katz (born April 7, 1968) is a college basketball analyst for the Big Ten Network and a college basketball correspondent for the NCAA. He formerly worked as a senior college basketball journalist for ESPN.com, ^[2] and was a regular sports analyst on College GameNight on ESPN. Katz earned a B.A. at the University of Wisconsin–Madison (1990), and began working for ESPN in 2000. ^[3]

Career

Katz first started in sports journalism as play-by-play for Newton North and Newton South High School games in 1985 as a senior in high school, and then at The Daily Cardinal , Wisconsin State Journal , and Milwaukee Journal in college. Before Katz joined ESPN, he was a sports reporter for The Fresno Bee (1995–1999); the Albuquerque Journal (1990–1995); and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (1989–1990). ^{[4] [5]}

At ESPN, Katz had a notable incident for mispronouncing "bulging discs" during coverage of the 2012 NBA draft. ^[6] He profiled Barack Obama's love of basketball as part of ESPN's coverage of the 2008 United States presidential election, which later resulted in eight appearances of "Barack-etology" during his presidency. He also was a primary backup to Bob Ley on Outside The Lines , ESPN's sports investigative journalism program. ^[7] On April 26, 2017, Katz was among over 100 employees laid off by ESPN. ^[8]

After leaving ESPN, Katz did color commentary for the Paradise Jam tournament held in Lynchburg, VA. ^[9] Later in 2017, Katz took on a role with the Big Ten Network as a studio analyst. Since then, he expanded his role to include color commentary and sideline reporting, and appears on NCAA March Madness as a sideline reporter and studio analyst during the tournament as part of his role with the NCAA. He also makes appearances on NBA TV and FoxSports.com. ^[7]

References

1. Katz, Andy (2009-03-18). "Katz: A presidential pick 'em at the White House". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2025-01-25.
2. "Booking Andy Katz Speaker Appearances- Contact Andy Katz Agent for Speaking Fees and Costs". Athlete Promotions. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
3. "[2] College Basketball Authority Andy Katz Named ESPN.com Senior Writer". Business Wire. Business Wire. Jan 5, 2000. Archived from the original on May 7, 2005. Retrieved 2009-05-10. Find Articles at BNET.com
4. "Biofile Andy Katz Interview". Mr BioFile. Retrieved 2023-12-25.
5. "Three Questions for Andy Katz '90". School of Journalism and Mass Communication. 2021-03-12. Retrieved 2023-12-25.
6. Woods, Shemar (2012-07-15). "Andy Katz has Freudian slip during injury update on former Ohio State forward Jared Sullinger". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2023-12-25.
7. "Big Ten Network's Andy Katz plays role of swingman as broadcaster". Chicago Sun-Times. 2023-03-09. Retrieved 2023-12-25.
8. "Andy Katz Out at ESPN, and Other Big Name Layoffs Have Yet to Trickle Out". The Big Lead. 27 April 2017.
9. Katz, Andy (2017-11-20). "5 observations from an intriguing Paradise Jam". NCAA.com. Retrieved 2025-08-09.

Sources

• Andy Katz ESPN Bio

External links

• Andy Katz on Twitter
• "The IU Circus: Comic Relief Supplied by Greenspan and Katz". Carry on Citizens. Blue Trolley Press & Surge Bucket Media. Archived from the original on 2011-10-07. Retrieved 2009-05-10.