Sean McDonough ’84

Sean McDonough ’84, a play-by-play commentator on ESPN’s college basketball and college football games, primarily calls the network’s Big Monday BIG EAST basketball and Saturday college football games. He has also done play-by-play on the network for Major League Baseball, the NHL, tennis, the College World Series, and college soccer and hockey.

McDonough was the television play-by-play announcer for the Boston Red Sox, and spent 10 years at CBS Sports as the network’s lead college football play-by-play announcer. In 1992 and 1993, he was part of the network’s lead Major League Baseball broadcast team, calling the All-Star Game, the National League Championship Series, and the World Series. He has provided commentary for a diverse array of sporting broadcasts, including men’s and women’s college basketball, NFL, golf, and U.S. Open Tennis, and contributed to CBS coverage of the Olympic Winter Games, calling the bobsled and luge competitions and ice hockey.

McDonough, the son of the late Boston Globe sportswriter Will McDonough, was honored four times with the New England Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Play-by-Play. He earned a bachelor’s degree cum laude in broadcast journalism from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, and received an honorary doctor of humane letters degree from Southern Vermont College in recognition of his career, community service, and personal achievements.

He is also the president of the Sean McDonough Charitable Foundation, which distributes grants to children’s charities in Massachusetts. The foundation has given nearly $2.4 million to 116 children’s charities throughout Massachusetts.