Bob Valvano (born January 29, 1957) is an American sportscaster based in Louisville, Kentucky.
During the college-basketball season, he is an analyst for ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN Plus, mostly covering Big East basketball. When not doing those games, Valvano is the color analyst for University of Louisville men's basketball games on both radio (WKRD 790 AM) and television (WHAS-TV). He formerly coached the Bellarmine University Knights men's basketball team in Louisville.
Valvano is also a radio talk-show host on both the national and local level. Valvano is the host of "The V Show", an overnight weekend show on ESPN Radio that airs Friday and Saturday nights from 1-4 a.m. Eastern Time. Valvano also hosted "The Bob and Will Show", a Louisville, Kentucky-based sports-talk show on 93.9(FM) The Ticket, until November 2008 when that station changed formats. Bob's cohost on that show was former Buffalo Bills player Will Wolford. He can now be heard occasionally hosting the "Sam Swope Weekend Sports Buzz" on 970 WGTK on Saturdays from 11 am until noon. Valvano was also an occasional host of "The 19th Hole" on the Golf Channel, and is still frequently seen on that network's "TOP TEN" programs. His local talk show in Louisville is on ESPN Radio 680-AM WHBE.
A regular segment on The V Show is the "Zero-Thousand-Dollar Pyramid," which was inspired by the Pyramid series of game shows. His show also features the Sports Radio Match Game regularly, based upon the 1970s edition of Match Game, complete with audio from the show.
Valvano graduated cum laude from Virginia Wesleyan College in 1979, where he majored in communications and lettered in soccer, basketball and golf. (He was voted All-Conference First team as a goalie and still holds the career record for saves at VWC.) He was inducted into the College's Sports Hall of Fame in its inaugural class in 2009. Prior to his broadcasting career, Valvano was a college basketball coach for 19 years, where three of his teams set all-time records for wins in a season, as well as setting 6 NCAA marks for three point shooting. He and his wife Darlene have two sons, Nicholas and Jamison.
Valvano is the younger brother of the late North Carolina State college basketball coach and TV commentator Jim Valvano. He is active in the V Foundation, Jim Valvano's legacy in the fight against cancer, and authored a book about his brother titled "The Gifts of Jimmy V".
Famous quotes containing the word bob:
“It was because of me. Rumors reached Inman that I had made a deal with Bob Dole whereby Dole would fill a paper sack full of doggie poo, set it on fire, put it on Inman’s porch, ring the doorbell, and then we would hide in the bushes and giggle when Inman came to stamp out the fire. I am not proud of this. But this is what we do in journalism.”
—Roger Simon, U.S. syndicated columnist. Quoted in Newsweek, p. 15 (January 31, 1990)