CBS Opened March Madness Coverage With Emotional Tribute to Greg Gumbel

“A void was left that will never be filled.”

by: Stephen Douglas

Posted: Mar 20, 2025 / 12:35 PM EDT

Updated: Mar 20, 2025 / 12:35 PM EDT

The 2025 NCAA men’s basketball tournament coverage got off to an emotional start on Thursday as the CBS studio crew paid homage to Greg Gumbel.

The broadcast opened with The Rolling Stones playing as Ernie Johnson welcomed viewers to the CBS coverage of March Madness. Johnson, Clark Kellogg, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith all talked about Gumbel’s legacy and how much they missed him. Gumbel passed away in December following a private battle with cancer.

Ernie Johnson and company kick off this year’s NCAA Tournament with a moving tribute to longtime host Greg Gumbel. pic.twitter.com/ktizs9RDST

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 20, 2025

“We’re on the road to the Final Four with the strings of The Rolling Stones in our New York studio 43. And there’s a very good reason for that,” Johnson said while fighting back tears. “Good afternoon everybody, I’m Ernie Johnson. Nobody loved the Stones more than Greg Gumbel. And a year ago at this time we were waiting on a friend to return. We knew he was missing March Madness, an event for which his name is synonymous, for personal reasons. Just after Christmas we learned that cancer had taken his life. We were crushed. A void was left that will never be filled. We wear his pin on our jackets and we carry memory in our hearts.”

Kellogg, Barkley and Smith then shared memories of working with Gumbel with Barkley explaining Gumbel’s longevity in the business simply by saying in order to do what he did you had to be good and people had to like you.