WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — The Wake Forest community mourns the passing of the Wake Forest great and legendary broadcaster, Billy Packer. He was a 1962 graduate of Wake Forest and earned his Arts and Sciences degree in Economics.
Packer was the team captain for his final season at Wake Forest. He led the Deamon Deacons to two Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) titles in '61 and '62 and 1962 Final Four. He was named to the ACC All-Tournament Team in '61 and '62 and was a two-time All-ACC selection.
The Demon Deacons became the first, and only to this day, Wake Forest team to advance to the NCAA Tournament Final Four.
Packer scored over 1,300 career points and led the team every season in free throw percentage. He finished with a career percentage of 81.9 from the charity stripe, the 12th-best in program history. In his first season, Packer led the team in field goal percentage as well, shooting 44.7 percent from the field on the year.
After graduation, he was an assistant coach at Wake Forest from 1966-70 and was instrumental in the recruitment of Charlie Davis, who went on to become the first black ACC player of the Year in 1971.
Packer began broadcasting in Raleigh in 1972. He was asked to fill in as a color analyst for a regionally televised ACC game. He became a regular the next season.
Packer covered every NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship including the Final Four, from 1975 to 2008. He covered the ACC games for Raycom Sports and won a Sports Emmy Award in 1993.
He also helped create the computer game Hoops in 1986.
After retiring in 2008, Packer was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame.
