Jalen Rose is joining NBC Sports as a Big Ten basketball analyst, the New York Post’s Ryan Glasspiegel reported. The former Michigan great will make his debut during Friday’s quadruple-header on Peacock.
Rose will serve as an analyst on Big Ten College Countdown alongside Jordan Cornette and Josh Pastner, Glasspiegel reported. His debut will be part of Peacock’s coverage of a loaded slate on Friday, including Alabama vs. Purdue and Arizona vs. Wisconsin.
It’s a return to the media space for Rose, who joined ESPN in 2007 as an analyst and stayed with the company until he was one of the notable layoffs last year. He covered the NBA for the network as a staple on NBA Countdown, but he will now get ready to break down the Big Ten as he returns to the conference.
Jalen Rose is one of the all-time greats at Michigan, where he was a member of the “Fab Five” from the 1991 recruiting class. He went on to become the No. 13 overall pick in the NBA Draft and spent played in the league from 1994-2007 with the Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, Chicago Bulls, Toronto Raptors, New York Knicks and Phoenix Suns.
NBC is in the second year of its partnership with the Big Ten as part of a landmark media rights deal, which kicked in last year. Peacock will carry 54 conference games this season while two more – Purdue vs. Oregon and Wisconsin vs. Iowa – will also air on NBC. In addition, Peacock will carry first-round games during the Big Ten Tournament.
NBC is getting ready to bring the NBA back to its airwaves. The network, along with Amazon Prime and ESPN, are all part of the association’s new media rights deal that begins next year. Warner Bros. Discovery was not part of the agreement, though, which means the NBA on TNT is coming to an end at the end of this season.
NBC hasn’t made any announcements on analysts joining its coverage as of yet. However, the expectation is Noah Eagle – who calls Big Ten Saturday Night football games as well as conference basketball games – and Mike Tirico will be the lead play-by-play voices.
