When the Kentucky men’s basketball team returns to action in November, some familiar voices will be heard on the airways. Jack “Goose” Givens will join Tom Leach on the game broadcast, while Cameron Mills will appear on the pregame show as an analyst.
One of the greatest players in program history, Givens, who scored 41 points in the 1978 national championship game and is a UK Athletics Hall of Famer, will team up with Leach on the game broadcast.
Givens, a Lexington native, takes over for Mike Pratt who died in June. Pratt and Leach teamed up for more than 20 years for the UK Sports Network and called the 2012 National Championship victory together.
“My basketball career started in Lexington, and it is thrilling that it has come full circle,” Givens said. “I look forward to working with a professional like Tom Leach and I’m excited to share my passion for Kentucky basketball with the Big Blue Nation on my hometown team’s network.”
The duo will also host the Ruoff Mortgage Wildcat Wrap Up postgame show, where they are joined each game by a UK player and head coach John Calipari. Andrew Kappes will serve as the studio host.
Givens and Leach called Kentucky’s four-game foreign tour in The Bahamas this summer. The duo broadcasted victories in all four contests as UK won by an average margin of 50.0 points per game.
Mills, a two-time National Champion, will appear on the Don Franklin Auto Countdown to Tipoff pregame radio show. Mills, also a Lexington native, hit one of the biggest shots in program history to help the Cats down Duke during the 1998 title run. He will sit alongside Dave Baker, who returns for his 36th season with the UK Sports Network.
Givens and Mills will also provide analysis on television for the UK Sports Network as a featured guest on BBN Gameday and BBN Tonight airing in Lexington on LEX18.
The Don Franklin Auto Countdown to Tipoff pregame show airs 90 minutes prior to all Kentucky men’s basketball games on UK Sports Network affiliates and is also available through the UK Athletics app. A stream of the show is also available on UKathletics.com and on the Kentucky Basketball Facebook page, where fans can ask questions and interact with Baker and Mills.
“After more than 20 years in radio, joining the UK Sports Network has always been a dream,” Mills said. “I’d like to thank, Dick Gabriel who has been a mentor since I started in media. I’m looking forward to working with Dave Baker to further learn the craft. Being able to sit in the same seat as legends like Sam Bowie, Rex Chapman, Jack Givens and Mike Pratt is an honor and I will do my best to entertain and inform Kentucky fans.”
In addition to UK Sports Network game day radio coverage, fans are encouraged to subscribe to the Behind Kentucky Basketabll podcast presented by Thorntons, hosted by UK Sports Network’s Curtis Burch. The podcast is available on iTunes, Spotify and iHeart.
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