Behind the scenes with ESPN’s ‘GameDay.’ Lots of people, tons of work, not much time.
ESPN’s “College GameDay” makes its eighth appearance at Rupp Arena on Saturday, helping make the “greatest tradition in college basketball” also the focal point of the entire college basketball world for an hour.
Coming to town for Saturday night’s SEC/Big 12 Challenge game between No. 9 Kansas and No. 8 Kentucky, the “GameDay” crew, talent and staff spend hours preparing for the 60-minute morning broadcast on ESPN.
Friday morning, the production crew, a group of 29 people, begins putting the set in place after unloading Thursday afternoon. Because the teams don’t practice in Rupp, the crew doesn’t have to wait till they’re off the floor as they did at Duke last week.
“GameDay” analyst Seth Greenberg left Murray at 6:30 a.m. Friday. He called the Belmont-Murray State game Thursday night. The long, boring drive doesn’t bother him.
“When I have a drive like that, I just check in with my coaching friends just to see how they’re doing, what’s going on with their teams, and try to get a feel for where they are right now this point in the season,” the former Virginia Tech coach said. He likened it to his old days on the recruiting trail.
Colleague Jay Williams jokes that Greenberg loves that kind of drive. He loves “the grind,” Williams said. “Embrace the grind.”
“My value (on air) is my relationships,” Greenberg said. “My value is talking to coaches in a different way. … Jay Will looks at (the game) through the prism of a player. I look at it through the prism of how a coach deals with the marathon of the season. Jay Bilas looks at it probably through the prism of an ambassador for the game.
“I think that’s what makes the show so interesting.”
ESPN producer Aaron Katzman runs the production meeting at “the office,” a room in the Lexington Convention Center just off the arena. The table seats 20. Many are just arriving in town.
Lunch salads have been purchased for 25, custom ordered thanks to remote production coordinator Erin Knight, who helps organize many of the “GameDay” logistics including car rentals and pickups and the 63 hotel rooms. She also helps plan scenic shots and other clips on site.
Williams arrives a tad late. Immediately, Bilas notes Williams has another new water bottle (apparently, he loses them a lot). Greenberg, who is dressed in a gray sweatsuit, goes right after Williams about his shirt — what looks like red flannel with black insulated panels.
“We could have a long conversation about that shirt he’s wearing,” Bilas said, joking.
Williams comes too late for Bilas’ diatribe about salads.
“I am a salad connoisseur, and I am very anti-dressing on the side,” Bilas proclaimed. “I think that’s really negatively impacted the salad industry. And when I open up my own salad conglomerate, there will be no ‘dressing on the side.’”
It’s clear they are all friends. They’ve been doing the show together five years now. Rece Davis and Bilas have been on the show since its inception 15 years ago.
“We are what basketball teams are,” Williams said of his castmates. “If you’ve ever gotten a chance to be part of a team, you always bust their chops. With us, it’s 24/7.
“We’re all unique, but we all love each other. This is like our own basketball team. We disagree all the time, but I don’t think anybody takes any of it personally. It’s just our view on the game.”
Katzman runs through the show’s segments knowing at some point their plans will be shot when they go live, but there’s always a basic framework to return to.
There is no script. There is no teleprompter. Their earpieces keep them informed if they’re on schedule or if some segments must be tossed like a deck chair on the Titanic.
“We don’t know what the other guys are going to say,” said Davis, the show’s host. “The whole crux of this is to be prepared and react smartly and quickly and not be afraid to challenge each other.”
After the meeting, Bilas, Greenberg and Williams shuttle over to UK’s practice facility for UK’s afternoon practice. Davis stays behind to help with some of the segments. The nature of what Davis, Bilas, Greenberg and Williams do means there’s not much downtime on location, though they planned to have dinner together Friday night.
Davis admits to probably spending too much time in “the office,” but says he tries to get out in the community.
“Especially a place like here,” Davis said. “If you don’t go out and see that sea of blue and seeing the people coming up to you and talking about the Cats and remembering something you said four years ago on the air they didn’t like because it wasn’t complimentary of Kentucky, you’re missing out on that passion. And that’s part of I think what makes Kentucky special. That’s an important part of the job, too.”
‘College GameDay’
What: ESPN’s weekly TV show previewing the day in college basketball
Where: Rupp Arena
When: Gates open at 9 a.m. Saturday. Show starts at 11 a.m.
Admission: Free
Hosts: Rece Davis, Jay Bilas, Jay Williams, Seth Greenberg
This story was originally published January 25, 2019 at 7:53 PM.