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Emmy Award-winning Ian Eagle is in his 15th year as play-by-play announcer for Nets telecasts, the last seven on the YES Network. One of the most respected and most versatile sportscasters in the nation, Eagle became the radio voice of the Nets in 1994 at the age of 25, and moved to the television side the following year.
Eagle won a New York Sports Emmy for his work on Madison Square Garden Network's telecast of the Pacers/Nets Game 5 of the 2002 NBA playoffs. He also received Emmy nominations for his Nets play-by-play work on YES in 2008 and 2009.
A 1990 graduate of Syracuse University, Ian was the play-by-play voice of the Orangemen in football, basketball and lacrosse, and was awarded the Bob Costas Award for Outstanding Sportscasting.
"The Bird" joined WFAN as a producer in 1990 and debuted as host of his own show in 1992. The following year, Eagle began hosting pre-game and post-game shows for Jets football on WFAN and was named the Jets radio play-by-play voice for the 1997 campaign. He has been one of the play-by-play voices for the NFL on CBS since 1998.
In addition to football, Eagle has called the NCAA Tournament for CBS for the past twelve years, the Army/Navy football game, boxing, and anchored the "Sportsdesk" and "At the Half" at CBS Sports. Eagle also handled English-language play-by-play for the international telecasts of the NBA Finals in 1995-98, and worked the Masters and PGA Championships for CBS/Direct TV in 2008 and 2009.
Eagle broadcast the NBA Playoffs for NBA-TV from 2003-2008, and has also handled play-by-play for the last six NCAA Track and Field Championships on CBS, and the French Open for Tennis Channel. He has covered the last seven US Opens for CBS and is the voice for the Sony PSP 2010 NBA video game with Kenny Smith. For the past three years Eagle has hosted a variety of shows on SIRIUS Satellite Radio, including "Full Court Press" and 'The Phil Jackson Show". Eagle is also a play by play man for Westwood One Radio-working their Thursday Night NFL broadcasts and the NCAA Tournament Regional Finals.
Eagle resides in New Jersey with his wife Alisa and two children.
The legendary Marv Albert was named play-by-play announcer for New Jersey Nets basketball on the YES Network in February of 2005. Considered by many to be the greatest sports announcer of his generation, he brings to YES more than 30 years of sports broadcast experience, having called 12 NBA Finals, seven Super Bowls and six NHL Stanley Cup Finals, as well as the acclaim of fans and critics alike.
Albert is also currently the voice of the NBA on TNT and of NFL Monday Night Football
on Westwood One Radio/CBS Radio Sports. He previously served as the play-by-play announcer for the New York Knicks and New York Rangers on Madison Square Garden Network for over 30 years. He also worked for NBC Sports for over 20 years, where he was the primary play-by-play voice for the NBA on NBC and also handled NFL play-by-play duties. In addition, he announced college basketball, boxing and NHL All-Star games for the network and hosted its Major League Baseball studio and pre-game shows.Prior to joining NBC, Albert spent four years as the radio voice of the New York Giants football on WNEW-AM in New York and 13 years as the sports anchor for WNBC-TV in New York.
Albert's awards include five national sports Emmy Awards and four New York Emmy Awards, six CableACE Awards, and in 1997 he was awarded the Curt Gowdy Media Award by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, one of the highest honors given to sports journalists. He has also been named New York State Sportscaster of the Year an unprecedented 20 times. While at YES, Albert won a New York Emmy Award in 2008 in the On-Camera Talent: Sports Play-by-Play category and has received five New York Emmy nominations.
Known for his signature "YES!!!" catchphrase, Albert is the backbone of the first family of sports broadcasting. His brother Al is a long-time play-by-play announcer, having called Indiana Pacers and Denver Nuggets games, and his brother Steve calls fights for Showtime Championship Boxing. Marv's son Kenny is the voice for New York Rangers on WFAN SportsRadio, as well as a play-by-play announcer for the NFL and MLB on FOX.
Albert attended the prestigious Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University from 1960 to 1963, and graduated from New York University in 1965.
Mike Fratello, winner of 667 games during a 17-season NBA coaching career, joined the YES Network in October 2008 as an analyst on the network's New Jersey Nets telecasts.
Fratello, known as the "Czar of the Telestrator", teams with YES' Nets play-by-play man Marv Albert, with whom Fratello also works on TNT's national NBA telecasts and with whom he previously worked on NBC's national NBA telecasts. Fratello also works alongside YES play-by-play man Ian Eagle.
A native of Hackensack, N.J., Fratello compiled a 667-548 regular season NBA record from 1983 to 2007 while coaching the Atlanta Hawks, Cleveland Cavaliers and Memphis Grizzlies.
He guided the Hawks to five post-season berths in seven seasons and was named NBA Coach of the Year after leading them to a 50-32 record in 1985-86. Fratello next coached the Cavs for six seasons, with the team's making the playoffs five times. He coached the Memphis Grizzlies during the 2005 and 2006 seasons (making the post-season each year) and for the first 30 games in the 2007 season.
Fratello graduated from Montclair State College in New Jersey, and his early collegiate coaching stops included assistant's positions at Rhode Island, James Madison and Villanova. He later was an assistant coach under Hubie Brown with the Atlanta Hawks.
Jim Spanarkel brings a wealth of experience to his position as analyst on YES' Nets telecasts. All told, he has worked a total of 19 years as a Nets television analyst, and he also works CBS Sports regular season and NCAA Men's Championship college basketball coverage. In addition, Spanarkel co-hosts NBA TV's studio programs.
As a standout basketball player at Duke, Spanarkel earned All-American honors in 1979 and Academic All-American honors in 1978 and 1979. He was Duke's team MVP his final three seasons - 1977-79, was team captain as a junior and senior, and was named NCAA East Regional Most Outstanding Player in 1978. He also played two seasons for the Duke baseball team. He graduated from Duke in 1979.
The Philadelphia 76ers selected Spanarkel with the 16th overall pick in the 1979 NBA Draft, and after playing for the 76ers during the 1979-80 campaign, he played the next four seasons with the Dallas Mavericks. He led Dallas in scoring during the 1980-81 season.
Spanarkel was born in Jersey City, N.J., and played his high school ball at Hudson Catholic High School, also in Jersey City. He and his wife Janet have four children.
Frank DiGraci is the Coordinating Producer / Producer of Nets basketball for the YES Network. This will be DiGraci's 11th season covering the Nets and his 7th season with YES. A six-time Emmy Award winner, DiGraci won for the broadcast of Nets-Pacers Game 5 in 2002, and has been nominated a total of 29 times during his career, including 13 for his Nets' coverage. With over 20 years in television production, the 45-year-old has also won Emmy's for coverage of the Yankees, Rangers & Tennis and has worked for the Mets, Knicks and NBA International as well as produced various studio shows during his career.
DiGraci resides in Clark, NJ with his wife, Carol, 3-year-old twin boys Ryan & Tyler and 1-year-old son Jayson.