Billy Packer Obituary

Billy Packer was a sportscaster and author from the United States. Billy Packer died of kidney failure on January 26, 2023, at the age of 82.

Packer was born in the town of Wellsville, New York. Packer was a Liberty High School graduate from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

From 1958 to 1962, he attended Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where he played guard for the school’s basketball team for three years.

Following graduation, he worked as an assistant coach for his alma mater. Packer began his broadcasting career in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1972, when he was asked to fill in as colour analyst for a regionally televised ACC game. The following season, Packer became a regular.

Billy Packer called college basketball for more than three decades and has worked on 34 Final Four broadcast teams for both NBC and CBS.

From 1981 to 2008, he worked as a CBS analyst, quickly becoming one of the sport’s most prominent voices, calling games alongside Jim Nantz, Brent Musburger, Dick Enbert, Curt Gowdy, and others.

His first Final Four appearance came in 1975 when UCLA and coach John Wooden won the championship. His most recent victory came against Memphis in 2008.