Jim Spanarkel

James Gerard "Jim" Spanarkel (born June 28, 1957) is an American television analyst for the Brooklyn Nets on the YES Network and College Basketball on CBS. Spanarkel, who himself was a professional basketball player, was selected 16th overall in the 1979 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers and traded to the Dallas Mavericks in 1980. He played organized high school basketball in Hudson Catholic Regional High School, in Jersey City and for Duke. He is married to Janet, and the couple have four children, James, Bridget, Stephanie, and Andrew.^[1] He is currently a First Vice President and a certified financial planner at Merrill Lynch in New Jersey.

Career

High school

Spanarkel played at Hudson Catholic Regional High School in New Jersey, where he was a teammate of Alan Cancro, Marty Suess, Mark Callori, and future NBA player Mike O'Koren.

College and professional basketball

Spanarkel was a First Team Acclaim All American, in addition the First Team All-ACC and the first 2000-point scorer in Duke Blue Devils history. He was named Duke's team MVP for his final three seasons, 1977, 1978, and 1979. Spanarkel was also team captain in his junior and senior years, and was announced NCAA's East Regional Most Outstanding Player in 1978. Duke finished as the national runner-up that year to Kentucky.^[2] He graduated from Duke in 1979.

The Philadelphia 76ers drafted Spanarkel with the 16th overall pick in the 1979 NBA Draft and spent his first season, the 1979–80 campaign, with the Sixers. He played the next four seasons with the Dallas Mavericks, leading the club in scoring for the 1980–81 season with a 14.4 ppg average.^[3] His NBA career ended in 1984.

American broadcaster

Jim Spanarkel has worked over 20 years as Nets television analyst (currently on the YES Network), and he additionally works CBS Sports' regular season and NCAA Men's Championship college basketball coverage with Ian Eagle (analysis). He also served as a studio analyst for NBA TV. During his entire broadcasting career, he has provided basketball coverage on CBS Sports, ESPN, Fox Sports, and as of late the Brooklyn Nets on YES. In 2013, Spanarkel called the international telecasts of the 2013 NBA Finals alongside Eagle. He has also been chief commentator for the Travers Cups and various member guest tournaments at Upper Montclair. Mr. Spanarkel proudly sports a handicap of 16.7 but routinely shoots under 80 . Spanarkle used to work primarily with Ian Eagle during CBS's telecast of the NCAA tournament, through 2013.

Statistics

Duke record book

Honors

• In 1990, Jim Spanarkel was inducted into the Duke Sports Hall of Fame.^[5]
• In 2001, Spanarkel was inducted into the Duke Circle of Honor.^[6]
• Jim Spanarkel was inducted into the UPI First Team All-America: 1979.^[7]
• He was inducted second into the All-ACC Team.^[8]
• MVP of All-ACC Tournament teams in 1978; 1979.^[9]
• He was the ACC Freshman of the year in 1976 for Duke.^[10]
• He has the NCAA East Regional MOP: 1978.^[11]
• He was the All-NCAA Tournament's Most Outstanding Player.^[12]
• Sparnakel was GTE Academic All-Americans consecutively in 1978 and 1979.^[13]
• James was Team Captain in 1978–1979.^[14]
• Won the Swett Memorial Trophy (Duke MVP) three years in a row: 1977, 1978, and 1979.^[15]
• In 2014, won the New York Emmy Award for Best Sports Analyst for the YES Network broadcasts of Brooklyn Nets games.^[16]

References

External links

• Jim Spanarkel NBA statistics