Jim Nantz Bonded with Chris Street

Broadcaster Honored to Remember Fallen Iowa Star in Documentary

IOWA CITY, Iowa - Matt Engel called Mike and Patty Street one day in January with a request.

Jim Nantz, the lead voice at CBS Sports for 32 years, had asked Engel to reach out to the Streets and see if they’d take a phone call from him.

“He was so sincere,” Mike Street recalled. “Everyone knows him. We talked for 20 minutes. He said to Patty, “You remind me so much of my mother.’ ”

Engel had just directed an incredible and emotional documentary for the Big Ten Network on the Streets’ son, Chris, an Iowa basketball star who had lost his life in an automobile accident in 1993. That documentary came out in January.

Nantz, 63, who retired from his basketball duties on CBS after the Final Four, was interviewed for the documentary. He and Chris Street had a brief but lasting bond.

“Chris Street,” Nantz said. “I will never forget.”

Nantz was on the CBS microphone when Iowa played at Duke on January 16, 1993. He visited with Street the day before the game, and the Hawkeyes’ junior forward left a lasting impression.

“I will never forget the chance I had to meet with Chris Street the day before the Duke game,” Nantz said on the documentary. “He was a kid with these chiseled good looks and just a ramrod straight posture about him. It was more than being an NBA prospect. He was an all-world individual. I felt a pretty cool connection.”

Nantz set the stage for the game, as he always did so well, the following day.

“From Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C., on the Duke campus,” Nantz said, breaking down this game between the third-ranked Blue Devils and No. 13 Iowa with his partner, Billy Packer.

Street played well, scoring a team-best 14 points and adding eight rebounds in the Hawkeyes’ 65-56 loss.

With Nantz calling the action, Street also set an Iowa record for consecutive free throws made with 34. Street would die four days later.

When Iowa returned to action after his death, the first game at Carver-Hawkeye Arena was against No. 5 Michigan and the Fab Five on Jan. 31. It was Super Bowl Sunday, and Nantz was on hand to call the action.

“This is Carver-Hawkeye Arena,” Nantz told his audience. “It has never been flooded with emotions like it has as Michigan and Iowa play. The Hawkeyes return home for the first time since the passing of their hero, Chris Street. It’s not overemphasizing it to say the state has been in mourning for 12 days.”

Street was honored before the game, then his teammates knocked off the fifth-ranked Wolverines, 88-80.

“This is a game that the University of Iowa needed, and the state of Iowa had to have,” Nantz said.

The Duke and Michigan games are just two of many Iowa games Nantz called for CBS during his career. That list includes the Hawkeyes’ Big Ten Tournament championships in 2001, 2006 and 2022.

Iowa won four games in four days to capture the 2001 title with a 63-61 triumph over Indiana, secured when Reggie Evans blocked Kirk Haston’s shot from the top of the key.

“Blocked, loose ball picked up by (Duez) Henderson and Iowa is the Big Ten Champion,” Nantz said. “Steve Alford beats the alma mater.”

Nantz has always been a master at research, which made his calls so interesting. He had a knack for sharing information with listeners that went beyond who scored or blocked a shot.

In the 2006 Big Ten final against Ohio State, Iowa rallied with a late 12-0 run that ended when Jeff Horner hit an off-balance one-handed spin shot in the lane with 1:50 to play.

“The kid who committed to Iowa when he was a high school freshman,” Nantz said. “Doing something special as a senior.”

Iowa went on to win, 67-60.

“The Hawkeyes have their day at the Big Ten Tournament,” Nantz proclaimed.

One of Nantz’s most memorable calls came in the 2022 Big Ten semifinals between Iowa and Indiana. With time about to expire, Jordan Bohannon hit one of the, if not the, most famous bank shot in Iowa basketball history. The fact that he did it in his sixth season at Iowa didn’t escape Nantz or his CBS sidekick, Bill Raftery.

“Five seconds to go,” Nantz said. “Bohannon way outside, launches the shot….he banks it home….impossible.”

Said Raftery, “It pays to stay in school.”

Countered Nantz, “The shot was six years in the making.”

That 80-77 victory moved Iowa into the Big Ten final, where it defeated Purdue, 75-66.

“They’re just going to play it out, and the celebration can begin early,” Nantz said. “Congratulations to Coach Fran McCaffery. The Iowa Hawkeyes are Big Ten Champions.”

Nantz will continue to greet listeners with “Hello Friends” on his golf and NFL duties moving forward, but basketball will now live in his rearview mirror.

But Mike and Patty will never forget him. His gracious comments about their son on the documentary, and their 20-minute phone conversation, will live forever.

“Someday, someone is going to ask me who my top five basketball players were,” Nantz told the Streets. “It hasn’t happened yet, but it will. And I want you to know Chris will be one of them.”