Bob Ortegal is 85, and he was 185% sure his career as a basketball TV analyst was long over, but a chance to come back for a special one-off was something he could not refuse.
The former long-time color man for the Dallas Mavericks’ telecasts will return to his roots to mark an anniversary of an event that he was a part of 40 years ago. Ortegal was the color analyst for the Raycom broadcast in February 1986 when TCU guard Jamie Dixon hit a leaning, 35-foot leaning miracle shot as time expired to beat Texas, 55-54.
“I do not believe it!” Ortegal said on the telecast. “I cannot believe it.”
Also slightly unbelievable, 40 years later, Dixon is TCU’s head coach and Ortegal will again call one of his games.
On Tuesday night, Ortegal will join play-by-play man Brian Estridge to call the Oklahoma State at TCU men’s basketball game in Fort Worth, which will be carried on ESPN +.
“This was something that we had wanted to do and the timing of it just worked,” Estridge said. “I think he was initially hesitant because he has not done this in a while, but he’s going to be fine. He can talk basketball all day.”
All day. All week. All month. All year. Likely without sleep.
Ortegal was the analyst for the Mavericks from 1988 to 2011. The former college head coach retired to west Fort Worth where he lives with his wife, Kerre. He still watches plenty of golf, but still has the distinction of never having played a round in his entire life.
Ortegal figures the last time he called a college game was 1991, around the time when the Mavericks hired him as a full-time analyst.
“I’d like to think this is like riding a bike,” Ortegal said in a phone interview. “I watch basketball all the time. I have watched the (TCU) games, and keep up with the Mavericks. I have become a bit of a couch potato.”
Ortegal, who was the head coach at Drake from 1974 to ‘81, was a constant on the Mavericks’ telecasts when the team was both one of the worst in the NBA, and one of its best.
Since leaving the Mavericks, he has taken full advantage of retirement. He’s traveled extensively, has a big family, and remains as active as possible. He did suffer from heart Afib, but he’s been past that for 18 months.
His doctor told him he’s an “ornery old cuss,” and Ortegal is back working out regularly.
One of initial concerns Ortegal expressed to Estridge was whether the headset could accommodate his hearing aids. Not a problem.
“It is different. A lot of it has changed. But when I get into the gym, it’s the same as it was 40 years ago,” Ortegal said. “I really have great memories of that time, of the old Southwest Conference. I have all kinds of stories about (former TCU basketball coaches) Jim Killingsworth and Billy Tubbs.
“Really the incredible part is that it’s been 40 years (since Jamie Dixon’s shot to beat Texas). I knew it had been a long time, but I can’t believe it’s been that long.”
Ortegal remembers every part of Dixon’s famous shot, which after four decades remains one of the program’s most replayed, and relished, moments. Ortegal has the clip saved on his phone, and he figures he’s watched it more than 100 times.
When he talked to Dixon about the play, Ortegal made sure to tell him what he thought.
“There was a foul on that shot,” Ortegal said, “it should have been a charge.”
Ortegal may not have called a game since 2011, but the analyst in him apparently never left.