Players get crash course in TV at Syracuse

July 29, 2009
By NICK CARBONI (NCC News)

SYRACUSE -- During a three-day crash course in sports broadcasting, six NBA players were surprised at just how hard it is to be on television.

"I’m raw right now," said 15-year NBA vet Donyell Marshall. "I struggle with everything. I’m struggling with looking at the camera at the right time and looking at the camera instead of looking at the monitor."

Marshall, along with Tony Battie, Mike James, Brevin Knight, Anthony Parker and Malik Rose, is taking part in Sportscaster U. It's a program put on by adjunct professors Matt Park and Dave Ryan of the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.

The players arrived Sunday, and had two days of practical courses from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday the players each sat beside either Park or Ryan, experienced broadcasters, to be the color analyst for a 2009 Syracuse-Villanova game.

"I haven’t really watched college basketball lately so I don’t really know those guys," Marshall told members of the media. "So I’m just hoping that I’m able to do even half the job some of you guys are able to do."

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