Eric Collins (born June 16, 1969) is a play-by-play sports announcer, currently the voice of the NBA's Charlotte Hornets on Bally Sports South.

Education

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Collins is a graduate of St. Lawrence University. He earned a master's degree from Syracuse University's S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications in 1992.

Career

In 2002, Collins filled-in for Mike Tirico on College Football on ABC along with analyst

Irving Fryar Irving Dale Fryar, Sr. (born September 28, 1962) is a former American college and professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for seventeen seasons. Fryar played college football for the Universit ...

. From 2009 through 2013, Collins served as the part-time television voice of the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

, taking over the duties of Dodger radio voice

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, who was the team's play-by-play announcer on road telecasts calling games east of

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

. Collins' broadcasting experience also includes play-by-play for NBC Sports' coverage of the

USA Baseball USA Baseball is the national governing body for organized baseball in the United States, and is a member of the United States Olympic Committee and the World Baseball Softball Confederation. The organization selects and trains the World Baseba ...

team during the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics, as well as calling ESPN's coverage of college football,

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

, and college baseball and softball Super Regional tournaments and

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games (WCWS in 2005 and 2006); part-time announcing for the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

in 2004 and 2008; and working in Minor League Baseball for the

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and Rochester Red Wings. He is known for his extreme and exciting calls during Hornets games in the 2020-2021 season. He also worked as a sideline reporter for

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January ...

broadcasts from 1997 to 2002. Collins has broadcast every game of the

World Cup of Softball The USA Softball International Cup previously known as the World Cup of Softball, is an annual softball tournament. The first eight World Cups were held at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The competition is governed by USA ...

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

since its inception in 2005, with partner Michele Smith. In August 2010, the Big Ten Network announced that Collins would handle play-by-play duties in college football and basketball. He also does play-by-play announcing for ''

Fox College Hoops ''Fox College Hoops'' (also know as ''Fox CBB or Fox Primetime Hoops for games airing in primetime hours'') is the branding used for Fox Sports broadcasts of college basketball for Fox, FS1 and FS2. Formally college basketball telecasts have al ...

''. He was the announcer for the famous Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks men's basketball's win over

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

Cameron Indoor Stadium Cameron Indoor Stadium is an indoor arena located on the campus of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. The 9,314-seat facility is the primary indoor athletic venue for the Duke Blue Devils and serves as the home court for Duke men's and ...

on November 26, 2019. His call for the buzzer beating layup by Nathan Bain was "BAAAIINNN... YES! THE LUMBERJACKS HAVE DONE IT!" On August 27, 2015, Collins was named the new television play-by-play announcer for the Charlotte Hornets, replacing

Steve Martin Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. He has won five Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 2013. Additionally, he was nominate ...

, who returned to his original role as the team's radio play-by-play voice. Collins was joined by former Hornet Dell Curry and

Stephanie Ready Stephanie Ready (born 1975) is an American broadcaster for NBA on TNT and was formerly a broadcaster for the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Charlotte Hornets. Prior to her broadcasting career, she was a basketball coach and gained recogn ...

, the NBA's first full-time female analyst. In 2021, Eric called the 2021

The Basketball Tournament The Basketball Tournament (TBT) is an open-application, single-elimination tournament played each summer in the United States. The 2022 edition features 64 teams with a $1 million winner-take-all prize, broadcast by ESPN. TBT was founded in 20 ...

alongside long-time TBTR analyst

Fran Fraschilla Francis John Fraschilla (born August 30, 1958) is an American basketball commentator and former college basketball coach. Career Fraschilla was an assistant coach at University of Rhode Island for Jack Kraft, Ohio University for Danny Nee and B ...

References

External links

Dodgers.com bio

Collins on ESPN's The Lowe Post Show podcast
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Eric 1969 births Living people Chicago Bulls announcers Chicago White Sox announcers College basketball announcers in the United States College football announcers Los Angeles Dodgers announcers Major League Baseball broadcasters National Basketball Association broadcasters Television personalities from Cleveland St. Lawrence University alumni S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications alumni Olympic Games broadcasters Women's college basketball announcers in the United States Women's National Basketball Association announcers Softball announcers