The Toronto Raptors announced Tuesday that Jack Armstrong and Leo Rautins will return as the colour analysts on the team’s television broadcasts for the 2008-09 season. They will join Matt Devlin, who was named July 9 as the team’s new television play-by-play announcer.
“These two broadcasters will bring Raptors fans the in-depth analysis that they have come to expect on all of our game broadcasts,” said Chris Hebb, senior vice-president of broadcast and content for Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. “They have the experience and knowledge to deliver a compelling story every night and we are thrilled to have them returning to the fold.”
The upcoming season marks Armstrong’s 11th with the organization and the 14th for Rautins. Armstrong will serve as the analyst on all TSN games and appear regularly on SportsCentre as the network’s NBA Insider. Rautins will handle the duties for contests on CBC and The Score, while working alongside Rod Black as studio analyst on TSN’s NBA Studio shows. Both Armstrong and Rautins will continue to add their expertise to various programs on Raptors NBA TV, including pre- and post-game analysis.
Armstrong and Devlin have worked together in the past calling NCAA and WNBA games. Armstrong began his broadcasting career as a radio analyst for the Raptors following a successful 14-year coaching career at the collegiate level.
In addition to his duties with the Raptors, Armstrong is a regular NBA commentator in Canada and a television analyst for NCAA basketball on CSTV, Comcast, Empire Sports Network, Fox Sports, MASN TV, New York/MSG, ESPN’s regional coverage and the Atlantic 10 Conference TV Network. His commentating also extended to the WNBA where he worked for MSG on New York Liberty telecasts for two seasons.
Rautins has been on the Canadian basketball scene for almost 30 years as a player, broadcaster and ambassador of the game. In addition to his broadcasting portfolio, Rautins is the head coach of the Canadian Senior Men’s National Basketball Team.
A 23-year veteran of television, radio and newspaper journalism, Rautins has worked Syracuse University basketball games on both radio and TV and has also broadcast NCAA, NBA, and NBDL basketball for ESPN, ESPN 2, and ESPN Regional. Rautins covered the 1994 World Championships for CTV.
Rautins graduated with honours from the prestigious S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse in 1983. His broadcasting career tipped off as radio analyst for Syracuse basketball and as a CBC radio broadcaster announcing games from the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.
