Jim Nantz Believes That Billy Packer Should Have Been In Hall Before Dickie V

ESPN's college basketball analyst Dick Vitale was enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame this past September. According to CBS's Jim Nantz, broadcast partner Billy Packer deserved to be there first.

When it was put forth to Nantz that the opinion of his former partner among sports fans, blogs and radio types was, um, less-than-favorable, it clearly struck a nerve.

Packer is the "greatest friend college basketball has ever had," said Nantz, "He looked after the sport and made sure there was an honesty and an integrity to it."

Whoa! No offense but I cannot say "honesty" when thinking about Packer. Sure, he called it like he saw it but he never admitted when he saw it wrong. As for "integrity", does that mean making sexist comments to a couple of females at Duke or to continuously belittle mid-majors?

I'm not as down on Packer as most people since I grew up in ACC country listening to him call games. But there is a reason that it's taken this long to nominate him for enshrinement into the Hall.

There is no doubt in my mind that Packer should be in the Hall of Fame. However, I don't see that it is a big deal that he isn't there before Vitale. While Vitale's shtick is getting stale, he has done more for promoting college basketball and has brought those qualities of "honesty" and "integrity" to the game.

Packer is in the first year of his retirement and CBS has started the campaign to get him into the Hall. Nantz will break in his new partner, Clark Kellogg, during the December 6th game between Memphis and Georgetown.