(Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports)
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Jay Bilas’ side of the closet is larger than his wife Wendy’s. It has to be this way because of the shoes. He has so many shoes. About 50 pairs. Most of them sneakers.
He likes suede shoes best, and customizes his own through the Nike ID website. The footwear obsession started when Bilas bought his first pair in 1975 at age 12. He saved up some money, went over to Whitmores, a sporting goods store, and got some suede Nike Bruins. The only color they had in his size — a 9 or 10, he couldn’t recall exactly — were yellow. He didn’t care.
“It’s like the one ridiculous indulgence I have,” Bilas told For The Win. “I don’t know what it is. I shouldn’t have this many shoes. But I like them.”
For The Win had exclusive access to Bilas on Saturday before he called the regular season finale of Duke-North Carolina. He wore blue suede Nikes that day. Though they looked more like Blue Devils colors than Tar Heel, Bilas said he didn’t do this on purpose. One Carolina fan in the College GameDay crowd did call him out for this, however.
That pair back in 1975 cost less than $20.
“I think I paid for them in cash with a $20 bill and I got change back!” he said. “I walked out of Whitmores with those shoes and wore them out and put my other shoes in the box. Man, those were the coolest things.”
(Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports)
The shoes are completely indicative of Bilas’ personality. He wears them with anything, including suits. At 51-years-old, he’s managing to stay hip. Those who follow him on Twitter wait for the Young Jeezy “I gotta go to work” tweets every morning. It’s Bilas’ signature move on social media, and took off several years ago when GameDay was at Michigan State. Rece Davis asked Draymond Green who he was listening to in his Beats headphones and he said Young Jeezy. Former ESPN analyst turned UNC assistant coach Hubert Davis asked Bilas if he listened to Jeezy and he said yes.
“It’s not the only thing I listen to, but I tweeted — and these things have taken on an urban myth — a line from a song and then another one and I was getting ready to get up and leave to go to work,” Bilas said. “So I tweeted another one and said, ‘I gotta go to work’ and it just kind of took off. I did one the next day and it became an expectation.”
Bilas has met Young Jeezy and says the rapper approves of the shtick. If he forgets to tweet or oversleeps, his phone will buzz with tweets wondering what happened.
The Bilas family doesn’t mind him being so active on social media, though his son Anthony was a little embarrassed at first because this is the music of people his age.
“I think it’s pretty cool,” Wendy said. “It kind of shows his quirky side, and he definitely has a quirky side. It shows that he’s somewhat connected to the younger generation and I think it’s good. It lets him show a different side of his personality, which Twitter lets him do more so than TV. That’s kind of the real Jay, what you see on Twitter.”
It’s the Bilas who isn’t on Twitter that most fans are familiar with. The one who has been with ESPN since 1995. The one who this year replaced Dick Vitale for both Duke-North Carolina games, a matchup Vitale has been calling for more than three decades. Bilas seems destined to be the new face of ESPN’s basketball coverage, appearing on nearly every platform for the network.
“My style is off the wall, you know, mustard, hot dog, whatever,” Vitale told For The Win over the phone. “Jay will be phenomenal. He’s a good guy, great feel for the game, and that’s not for me to judge.”
Covering college basketball comes easy for Bilas, but he takes it very seriously. He goes to unique lengths to be fair.
“I give my phone number to referees,” he said. “They all have my phone number and I tell them, ‘You hear something on the air you don’t like, call me and tell me where I’m wrong and we’ll discuss it.’ And it’s happened from time to time. I’ve learned more, and I think they’ve learned more about my perspective.”
The way most know Bilas is the voice of reason when it comes to chaos and confusion surrounding NCAA policies and issues. He offers sound, reasonable explanations when various situations arise. He talks about the NCAA a lot, on camera and at the dinner table at home. Though he’s sharp, analytical and very nuts and bolts, he has a softer side too. His Twitter feed is full of silly selfies with college basketball fans. He loves pop culture. Wendy says he could rival anyone in a game of Brady Bunch trivia.
(Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports)
“He is very much a goofball,” she said. “He’s hilarious, which is the first thing on our first date – I didn’t really know him well when we went out on our first date, and I thought he was going to be quiet and serious. But I was so happy to find out he really isn’t that way at all.”
“He doesn’t second-guess himself. He’s got an innate confidence. He really thinks about things. He does not say something flippantly. If he says something, he’s given a lot of thought to it. If he thinks one way, he really tries to find people who will contradict him so that he can see the other side of the argument before he comes to a conclusion.”
It’s also one of the reasons why he won’t let the NCAA off the hook. It was while he played at Duke his passion for NCAA issues came to be. He was a student member on the NCAA long range planning committee.
“It was a wonderful experience,” he said. “I met a lot of great administrators. As nice as they were to me, you didn’t feel like athletes had a real voice. They did the best they could, but it wasn’t real. And they’re trying to do better, but it’s still not a real voice, not a real vote.”
(Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports)
It wasn’t until later in his career Bilas realized he was free to say what he thought about the structure of college sports. At first he tiptoed around it. But then decided to say what he thought in a respectful manner and take into account the proper nuance that it’s complicated, and allow for the other side to respond. Bilas says ESPN has never had a problem with him giving an opinion.
“I really do love college basketball more than anything,” he said. “If somebody came to me and said, ‘Look, we want to pay you twice as much money, but we want you to start covering another sport,’ I wouldn’t do it. I love this too much.
“But to me, when you love something, you don’t just stay silent when there are things that are wrong with it and can be improved and be better. You speak up.”
And he does, while wearing a pair of blue suede shoes.
