Rutgers-Seton Hall basketball: Jersey's John Fanta gets TV play-by-play call
In 2013, as a freshman at Seton Hall University, John Fanta boarded a bus of student-fans and rode 25 miles southwest to a dingy, trapezoidal arena in Piscataway. From way up in the cheap seats, the 18-year-old from Ohio experienced his first taste of the most Jersey sporting event of them all – the Garden State Hardwood Classic.
Seton Hall edged Rutgers that day despite finishing the game minus four key players – two injured, one fouled out and, of course, one ejected for clotheslining a Scarlet Knight.
“I had heard about what a great rivalry this was,” Fanta recalled. “I wanted to see it for myself. I fell in love with New Jersey college basketball that night.”
Nine years later, the 27-year-old Fanta is an honorary New Jerseyan (he lives in Boonton, in Morris County) and a rising star as a television play-by-play broadcaster. On Sunday night, for the first time, he gets the assignment he was born to fulfill – calling Rutgers-Seton Hall on Fox Sports 1.
“It’s an honor,” he said. “When I was given the assignment, it gave me goosebumps, because the rivalry means so much to so many people. I’ve learned about that passion that both Rutgers and Seton Hall fans have, and I think it’s really cool and humbling to get the opportunity to tell a chapter of one of the most underrated rivalries in college basketball.”
Paired with Jim Spanarkel
Adding to the Jersey-ness of it all, Fanta’s partner on the call will be widely respected analyst Jim Spanarkel, a Hudson County legend as a player at Hudson Catholic (and later a star at Duke) who is a longtime Rutherford resident.
“One of the best analysts in the business,” Fanta said. “I grew up watching Jim Spanarkel call NCAA Tournament games with Ian Eagle and Verne Lundquist, two guys who have been role models. To work with a guy who I think the world of, who is a pro’s pro, and who is also a New Jersey guy is really cool.”
They’ve called a few games together in the past.
“Very happy to see it,” Spanarkel said of Fanta’s appointment to the game. “John is always prepared, always ready to go. Young broadcasters have to find their spots, find their opportunities. When the door opened a little crack, he’s always been ready and prepared to take advantage of it.”
‘There might be blood’
Fanta’s knowledge of the central characters in this contest run deep. As a student-broadcaster for Seton Hall’s Pirate Sports Network, he’s covered current Hall head coach Shaheen Holloway since Holloway’s days as the program’s top assistant. And he’s made an effort to know Rutgers skipper Steve Pikiell, interviewing him on podcasts and showing up at the RAC as a media observer on multiple occasions over the past few years.
“Rutgers has one of the best home-court advantages in America,” Fanta said. “As a college basketball play-by-play guy, when you look at that assignment you automatically think, ‘It’s going to be an outstanding atmosphere.’ Great crowds make our job easier – they tell a better story than we ever could in words.”
Part of calling this game is being ready for the unexpected. Crazy stuff has happened over the years, scenes that surely will be recounted Friday at the annual RU-SHU pregame banquet in Nutley (which, naturally, Fanta emcees). As Fanta said at last year’s banquet, the gathering is a reminder that, for all the on-court shenanigans, there’s an undercurrent of mutual respect between the Garden State’s two high-majors. Respect punctuated by a sharp elbow or three, which come with the territory.
“If you’re watching next Sunday and you’re looking for perfect basketball, you’ve gone to the wrong place,” Fanta said. “It will be a street fight, there might be blood, and if you’re soft, well that’s not what this rivalry is. This rivalry is about what’s right with college basketball.”
Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. He is an Associated Press Top 25 voter. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Rutgers-Seton Hall basketball: John Fanta gets TV play-by-play call
