All Hornets

Hornets' electric announcer shows off multi-sport excellence

Eric Collins's greatness transcends basketball, it appears.
Colin Keane|
A detail view of the center court logo for Classic Night game between the Charlotte Hornets and the Phoenix Suns at Spectrum Center.
A detail view of the center court logo for Classic Night game between the Charlotte Hornets and the Phoenix Suns at Spectrum Center. | Jeremy Brevard-Imagn Images

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Charlotte Hornets

You don't have to be a fan of the Charlotte Hornets to appreciate what play-by-play announcer Eric Collins brings to the table. As it turns out, you don't even have to be a fan of basketball at all to appreciate and experience Collins.

Though Collins is synonymous with the Hornets, he does also flex his iconic vocal energy in the booth for college football games, and the results of late, not surprisingly, have been tremendous.

Hornets announcer goes viral with epic college football call

Recently, a post on X went viral that featured a call from Collins for FOX during a North Carolina-Central Florida battle.

UNC or UCF fans unfamiliar with Collins's game may have been pleasantly shocked by the theatrics, but Hornets fans -- and many NBA fans, in general -- are no strangers to the X-factor Collins brings to sports contests.

The special thing about Collins is that he doesn't need a primetime, marquee matchup to deliver greatness; he doesn't need to be announcing the Super Bowl to make things feel awesome. If there's not much entertainment value happening, Collins alone will supply that value.

In other words, Collins has a talent for making something out of nothing (or very little), and his volcanic calls for a largely unsuccessful Hornets squad in the recent years is a testament to that.

Whether he was blown away by a pass from LaMelo Ball or a fast-break dunk from Terry Rozier, Collins has always been able to funnel his passion directly through his voice and into the ears of his viewers. His reactions are simply impossible not to love.

Hornets' Eric Collins will call games for NBA on Prime in 2025-26

Hopefully, the Hornets don't lose Collins's services in the future to a higher bidder.

Collins has been announcing Hornets games since 2015, meaning his connection to Charlotte is strong. However, Collins was recently hired to call games for Amazon Prime as part of the NBA on Prime programming, starting in the upcoming 2025-26 season.

Though his Hornets work will presumably continue per usual, Collins will also be joining a play-by-play roster for Amazon’s national NBA coverage that includes Ian Eagle, Kevin Harlan and Michael Grady.

For now, Hornets fans should appreciate every single game called by Collins. He's kept things interesting through some mediocre (or worse) stretches of basketball in Charlotte, and now that the team is on the up, his already-exhilarating calls could threaten to set speakers aflame in the coming seasons.

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Colin Keane
COLIN KEANE

Colin Keane is a contributing journalist for "UConn Huskies On SI." Born in Illinois, Colin grew up in Massachusetts as the third of four brothers. For his high school education, Colin attended St. Mark's School (Southborough, MA), where he played basketball and soccer and served as student body president. He went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Villanova University. Colin currently resides in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "UConn Huskies On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org

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