33 Facts About Terry Gannon

1.

Terry Gannon played basketball for North Carolina State University, and under coach Jim Valvano, he was a member of the 1983 Wolfpack "Cardiac Pack" national championship-winning team.

2.

Terry Gannon was recognized as an Academic All-American twice, was NC State's all-time leading free throw shooter in 1983, and was ranked the second all-time Wolfpack player in career free throw accuracy.

3.

Terry Gannon began his early broadcasting career announcing for a variety of sports, mostly on cable outlets.

4.

Terry Gannon was born and raised in Joliet, Illinois, to Jim Terry Gannon and Mary Gann.

5.

Terry Gannon began his basketball career at Joliet Catholic High School, where his father was a coach.

6.

Terry Gannon attended North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he played college basketball as part of the Wolfpack team under coach Jim Valvano, where he was recognized as an Academic All-American twice and NC State's all-time leading free throw shooter.

7.

In 1983, Terry Gannon was the leading three-point shooter in the United States.

8.

Terry Gannon hit 85.4 percent of his free throw attempts and was ranked the second all-time Wolfpack player in career free throw accuracy.

9.

Terry Gannon briefly played professional basketball in Europe, but on the advice of Valvano, left the sport for broadcasting.

10.

Terry Gannon has announced a wide variety of sporting events and has been called one of the "most versatile" announcers in TV sports and "the man who knows every game".

11.

Terry Gannon's focus as a commentator for the Olympics was exposing general fans to sports they viewed rarely, only every four years.

12.

In 1986, Terry Gannon began broadcasting on Valvano's TV and radio shows for regionally televised basketball games.

13.

Terry Gannon served as a regular college basketball game analyst for Raycom Sports, Prime Network, Jefferson-Pilot Sports, Sports South, and Home Team Sports between 1987 and 1994, and as a play-by-play announcer for Prime Sports and Jefferson-Pilot's coverage of college baseball.

14.

From 1990 to 1994, Terry Gannon was the announcer for the Charlotte Knights, a Minor League Baseball team in Charlotte.

15.

In 1991, Terry Gannon started working for ABC as a commentator for college basketball.

16.

Terry Gannon was an announcer on the weekly show Wide World of Sports.

17.

Terry Gannon would learn a sport's rules, key figures from its past and present, and for the purpose of sounding authentic to its fans, its "idiosyncratic language".

18.

Terry Gannon told reporter Barry Wilner that he would talk about what he knew about the new sport and avoid unfamiliar topics until he learned more about it.

19.

In 1993, Terry Gannon began broadcasting for ESPN and ABC, covering play-by-play coverage for college basketball and football; by 2001, he had covered three post-season bowl games.

20.

Terry Gannon was an announcer on ABC's coverage of the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour and announced the Tour de France, which Jacobs called Gannon's "perhaps his greatest challenge", three times.

21.

In 2001, ABC reported that Terry Gannon hosted the Belmont Stakes once and three times called the play-by-play at the Little League World Series.

22.

Terry Gannon announced for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup, WTA professional tennis, the 2004 Indianapolis 500,2006 Belmont Stakes, the Special Olympics, the Goodwill Games, and hosted ABC's college football studio show.

23.

In 2018, Terry Gannon told sports reporter Helen Ross that out of all the sports he has called, he found golf the hardest, even though he played it and had been a fan of the sport since childhood.

24.

Terry Gannon played golf in clubs near his home in Los Angeles, but most of his golf was played on the road, with former golf pros and fellow broadcasters like his Golf Channel broadcast partner, six-time major champion Nick Faldo, as well as with Craig Perks, Billy Kratzert, Matt Gogel, Jim Gallagher Jr.

25.

In 2010, Terry Gannon joined the broadcast team of the Golf Channel, which is owned by the NBC Sports Group.

26.

Terry Gannon served as play-by-play announcer on the PGA Tour, the LPGA Tour, Olympic figure skating and gymnastics, and college basketball.

27.

Terry Gannon has covered five Olympic Games, including serving as studio host and play-by-play commentator for figure skating, short track, rowing, canoeing, and golf.

28.

In 2014, Terry Gannon was enlisted as a play-by-play commentator for figure skating at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

29.

Lipinski and Weir reported that Terry Gannon "upped his game" with his wardrobe after working with them.

30.

In 2017, Terry Gannon signed a five-year contract extension with NBC and the Golf Channel.

31.

Terry Gannon called ice dancing with former ice dancer Tanith White.

32.

Also in 2018, Terry Gannon began commentating for gymnastics, with 1984 gold medalist Tim Daggett and 2008 all-around champion Nastia Liukin.

33.

Terry Gannon said that he considered calling gymnastics at a high level "an honor".