A native of Pittsburgh, PA, Dan Bonner was an all-state basketball player in Pennsylvania before he found his connection to the Commonwealth when he attended the University of Virginia from 1971-1975. While at UVA he was named co-captain of the men’s basketball team, and academic All-ACC in 1975, while averaging 8.3 points for Hall of Fame coach Terry Holland’s first Cavaliers squad. Following a two-year stint as head coach for UVA Women’s Basketball, Bonner spent two years as the analyst for UVA basketball’s radio network before going on to become a leading media voice for college basketball. Bonner’s introduction to television came in the 1980-81 season when he called four ACC basketball games, and the ACC Tournament, for television syndicator C.D. Chesley, in what turned out to be only the start of a long and storied career in broadcasting. Beginning in 1986, Bonner has been a color-commentator for every NCAA tournament, first with NCAA Productions (1986-1990), and then with CBS Sports (1991-present), including the 2000 and 2001 Final Four and Championship games for the CBS Sports HDTV broadcast. In addition to his work with CBS Sports, he has called college basketball games for ACC Regional networks via Raycom Sports and Jefferson Pilot Sports (1982-2021), ESPN (1987-2001) ESPN’s ACC Network (2019-present), and FOX Sports Regional Networks. His work in other sports includes play-by-play for baseball’s Carolina League Salem Buccaneers, women’s college basketball, and serving as an announcer for FOX ACC Regional Sports Networks coverage of ACC Baseball. Away from the broadcast booth, Bonner was Head Girl’s Basketball Coach at Robert E. Lee High School (Staunton) from 1999-2003, and was named the Virginia High School League (VHSL) Group AA Coach of the Year in 2002-2003.
