Bill Raftery, ’63, has had quite a winning spring season this year.

The 73-year-old CBS basketball analyst was inducted into the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association’s Hall of Fame in June, on the heels of his induction into the Big 5 Hall of Fame in April. A month earlier, he called the NCAA Final Four on television for the first time in his 33-year broadcasting career.

Raftery has cemented his legacy behind the microphone with many unique catchphrases that have changed the basketball lexicon. In fact, he’s trademarked two of them: “Onions” and “With a kiss.”

Many fans got their first taste of his creative play-by-play commentary when he shouted “Send it in, Jerome!” after Pittsburgh forward Jerome Lane shattered a backboard with a dunk in 1988. But a few of the northern New Jersey native’s famous phrases were coined much earlier.

“Some of what I said can be traced back to playing with my neighborhood friends where we would narrate our own pickup games,” Raftery said. “A lot of the things I say are just whatever comes to my head. I have to ad-lib in the environment … and there isn’t a whole lot of forethought.”

Raftery did, however, put a lot of thought into his college decision. A number of schools recruited him, but the draw of the Big 5 competition and the reputation of legendary coach Donald “Dudley” Moore ultimately led him to choose La Salle. “It all started by going to a St. Joe’s vs. La Salle game my senior year of high school at the Palestra,” Raftery said. “To come to that game with the crowd and see the rivalry really sealed my decision as to why I wanted to come to La Salle. I wanted to be a part of it.”

And as a three-year player for La Salle from 1960–63, he was not only a part of Explorers basketball—he played an integral role on the team. Raftery scored an average of 17.8 points per game as a sophomore and helped lead the Explorers to a National Invitation Tournament (NIT) berth and their first postseason play in eight years as a senior co-captain.

While Moore helped shape the 6-foot-4-inch guard on the court, Raftery credits the Christian Brothers with teaching him many life lessons and helping to mold him into the successful man he is today. “They exposed me to some things that broadened my horizons and helped me develop. The Brothers in those days and some of the laypeople were extraordinary in caring for you,” Raftery said. “All of (them) were in your corner and pushed you to be better. I am forever grateful for being exposed to that level of interest and concern for students and our growth.”

After his time at 20th and Olney, Raftery was drafted by the New York Knicks but never ended up playing in the NBA. Instead, he set his sights on coaching. After getting his start in 1965 as a basketball and golf coach at Fairleigh Dickinson in Florham Park, Raftery took the helm as the basketball coach at Seton Hall University in 1970. He finished his 11-year career at Seton Hall with a 154–141 record and two NIT appearances.

He made the switch to basketball broadcasting in the 1980s, and has served as an analyst for the New Jersey Nets, ESPN, CBS Sports, and most recently Fox, primarily on Big East basketball games.

In the hundreds of games he has called over the last 30-plus years, Raftery recalls two particular games that stand out as favorites—the 2009 Big East quarterfinal between Syracuse and Connecticut that lasted six overtimes and the 2006 upset when George Mason, an 11th seed, punched their ticket to the Final Four with an 86–84 victory over the top-seeded Connecticut Huskies.

The No. 1 announcing team for CBS and Turner Sports’ coverage of the NCAA basketball tournament, (from left) Bill Raftery, Grant Hill, and Jim Nantz.

Even though he wasn’t able to call any games in La Salle’s 2013 run to the Sweet 16, Raftery didn’t miss out on any of the excitement.

“I heard from more people during that run than any other time since I have left school,” Raftery said. “I am really happy that John (Giannini) is there and doing such a great job with these kids. That run helped anyone who played at La Salle bring back a lot of memories.”

Key to Common Rafisms

A legend in college basketball broadcasting, Raftery has peppered his keen analysis of the game with some colorful, off-the-cuff commentary that has become a hallmark of his broadcasting style. Use the cheat sheet below to help decode a few of his most famous catchphrases.

Get the puppies set: square up to shoot a three-pointer
Nickel-dimer: a touch foul
Onions: a gutsy move or shot late in the game
Put a little English on it: put some spin on the ball
Take it to the tin: drive to the basket
Send it in, big fella: a dunk by a tall player
With a kiss: a shot off the backboard