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Debbie Antonelli – ESPN/CBS/Raycom/Westwood One, Basketball Analyst // Women's Basketball Hall of Famer

Jake Wade Award

by Jeremy Rosenthal – University of Texas, Associate Director, Communications

At nine-years-old Debbie Antonelli played on her first basketball team. At 10-years-old, Antonelli was the first girl in Hyde Park, New York, to play Little League baseball. 
 
“I loved playing and competing and being on a team,” Antonelli said.  “Those things have been the foundation for my love of sport — getting to play as a little girl and being encouraged to play everything when I was younger.”
 
Antonelli, now a renowned Hall of Fame sport analyst, is the College Sports Communicators 2023 Jake Award recipient, which goes to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution in the media to intercollegiate athletics.
 
In her 35-year career as a television and radio sports analyst, Antonelli, a Women’s Basketball Hall of Famer, has covered college women’s and men’s basketball and professional basketball (WNBA) for ESPN, CBS Sports, Fox Sports, RAYCOM Sports and Westwood One, among others.
 
 
The turning point for Antonelli for basketball came at age 13 when her family moved from New York to North Carolina and she went to a North Carolina State women’s basketball game. She sat on the rail at Reynolds Coliseum watching the legendary head coach Kay Yow and her team and quickly came to a realization.
 
“I’m going to do everything I can to make myself good enough so that Kay Yow will pick me to play for NC State,” she recalled saying.
 
So, to that end, as a high schooler when it snowed, Antonelli would walk to the gym with a basketball in a garbage bag over her shoulder and go to get shots up. Antonelli would sneak into the NC State rec center and compete against college guys. The hard work paid off and she made the NC State team.
 
During her career, the Wolfpack made four NCAA Tournament appearances and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 twice. Antonelli was a member of the historic 1984-85 squad which was the last team to sweep the ACC regular season and ACC Tournament titles. In 1986, she received the prestigious Alumni Association Athletic Trophy awarded to the most outstanding male or female student-athlete at NC State, as voted by the student body.
 
Post-college, with the love of college sports ingrained in her, Antonelli went to Ohio University for a masters in sports administration and then served in director of marketing roles at Kentucky and Ohio State.
 
At Ohio State, Antonelli went to the local cable company and asked if they could produce a sports package. She created the Ohio State Women’s Basketball Network and did everything from selling the inventory to calling the games.
 
Fast forward: Antonelli now calls upwards of 80 basketball game broadcasts a year.
 
Antonelli is a strong advocate in helping the game grow and has built relationships with coaches, administrators, and players to where she is a major influencer in college basketball circles.
 
In 2017, Antonelli became the first woman in nearly 22 years to call an NCAA men’s basketball tournament game when she worked NCAA Division I first-round championship games.
 
Her contributions, commitment and expertise have been recognized throughout the years, with the ultimate compliment coming last year when was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2022.
 
What motivates Antonelli as a broadcaster for men’s and women’s basketball?
 
“I love the prep,” Antonelli said. “I love the film and being in the gym at practice. My preparation is the same no matter what the level of the competition. I bring the same approach because I know how hard it is to win and how hard it is to compete at this level we are talking about.”
 
“No one can surpass Antonelli in the area of game preparation and on-the-air-delivery,” stated CSC Hall of Famer Julie Bennett, retired from Baylor University. “She comes to contests with not only thorough and insightful game preparation, but also brings the perspective of having played the game.”
 
“Coaches know how much I care and I love what I do and I think that comes through,” Antonelli said. “I think if you really care about something and you work hard at it, I think people see that. I want to help people succeed at the highest level.”
 
Antonelli’s personal mantra is Build. Serve. Empower.
 
And, her contributions are duly noticed by coaches and media alike.
 
“Debbie Antonelli’s impact on collegiate athletics goes far beyond women’s basketball,” University of Miami women’s basketball head coach Katie Meier said. “When you watch her broadcasts, you realize what a tremendous teacher of the game she is. She is the clearest voice of advocacy for the advancement and promotion of the college game.”
 
“Debbie is one of the most passionate people I know about college basketball,” noted Associated Press writer Doug Feinberg, who leads the AP’s coverage of national women’s professional and college basketball. “She cares deeply about the game, it’s players and coaches and her knowledge of them is incredible. Debbie has been a champion for women’s basketball for the last few decades, treating it with the respect it deserves. I always learn something new whenever I watch her broadcasting men’s and women’s basketball.”
 
From creating a fledgling network to air basketball games on television in Columbus to seeing the millions of viewers that tuned in for the most recent women’s Final Four in Dallas, Antonelli takes great pride.
 
“It makes me feel grateful for the incredible path that I’ve been able to experience and witness,” Antonelli said. “It makes me feel that all the challenges and adversity and the never give up attitude about promoting and advocating for our game are starting to pay off. There is always more to do. We need to continue to capture leaders that want to move and advance the game forward.”
 
For Antonelli, her love for the game also involves a personal mission.
 
She hosts an annual fundraiser for Special Olympics called 24Hours Nothing But Net (24HoursNBN.com), with her primary motivation her Special Olympic athlete, son Frankie. The event is a 24-hour free throw shooting marathon to raise thousands of dollars annually, along with raising awareness, for Special Olympics. Annually, Antonelli conducts a 24-hour free throw shooting marathon, with special guests, with the challenge to make 100 free throws every hour for 24 hours. At the end of the day-long marathon, she will have made 2400 free throws.

Over the past four years, “Team Antonelli” has raised over $625,000 for Special Olympics by making free throws!
 
Frankie, now a young adult living with Down Syndrome, is a recent graduate of the ClemsonLife Program, a program Antonelli and her family are huge advocates of. It’s is a wonderful university-sponsored educational track to prepare young men and women with intellectual abilities for competitive employment and independent living through a combination of academic, social and career explorations.
 
An impassioned advocate for intellectually challenged children since Frankie was a young boy, Antonelli is also a national spokesperson and parent advocate for Special Education. Antonelli makes 100 free-throws every hour for 24 hours and shoots over 90 percent. To date she has raised over $625,000 for Special Olympics.
 
Antonelli firmly believes that playing sport is important and impactful to developing life skills. She talks about the team aspects of how to win, knowing your role and how to deal with setbacks.
 
Her actions demonstrate this daily.
 
And, Antonelli is humbled to receive the Jake Wade Award from CSC, as she now has multiple ties to the organization. First, she is a huge advocate of athletic communicators. And second, this year, she will serve a second time as emcee of CSC’s awards night celebration during the Orlando convention.
 
And third, one of her happiest family moments took place earlier this year when her middle son, Patrick, a junior basketball guard at Emory and Henry College, was selected for 2022-23 CSC NCAA Division II Academic All-District honors. (“One of my very proudest moments as a parent,” she noted at the time.)
 
"I am so honored to receive the Jake Wade Award,” concluded Antonelli, “as it is such a prestigious award selected by my peers in sports communications. I am grateful to have a 35-year basketball career broadcasting the game I love. Thank you to so many along my path that have guided, mentored and worked alongside me on this incredible ride."
 
And, 2019 Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame inductee and 40-plus year collegiate athletics administrator Nora Lynn Finch summed up Antonelli’s contribution to college basketball.
 
“Debbie is a special lady who has excelled in her broadcasting, promoting, advocating, marketing, advising and publicizing roles,” said Finch, retired ACC Senior Associate Commissioner/Women’s Basketball. “She has defined her career by her longevity, passion, knowledge and expertise. I am proud to see her earn this distinction for excellence for her advocacy and commitment to college sports.”