Patrick McCarthy followed in his father’s footsteps as a play-by-play announcer for the St. Joe’s men’s and women’s basketball teams.
His father, Tom McCarthy, began broadcasting for the Hawks during their undefeated 2003-4 season. He is currently an announcer for the Philadelphia Phillies and select NFL games on CBS.
Patrick McCarthy said broadcasting gives him a natural high.
“I love being behind the microphone and getting a chance to call a game,” Patrick McCarthy said. “I am exhausted when I am done.”
St. Joe’s has been important to Patrick McCarthy since he was a child, tagging along to games with his father ever since he was six years old. He said he’s been a dream come true work for the teams that he grew up with.
“Some of my earliest memories are the 2004 season. I was at the Oklahoma State [University] game, I watched Jameer [Nelson] go up and give them a chance to go to the final four,” Patrick McCarthy said. “It has been a full-circle kind of thing. I love coming to Hagan every single day and working with these guys.”
In addition to calling games on Hawk Hill, McCarthy does play-by-play for the University of Princeton’s football team and the Lehigh Valley Ironpigs, the Philadelphia Phillies Triple-A affiliate.
Patrick McCarthy said his father told him to the key to successful broadcasting is to be yourself.
“[My dad has always told me to] not try to create the persona of something bigger than you actually are,” Patrick McCarthy said. “You are going to find work and you are going to build up relationships that are going to get you work. You can never be overly prepared for a broadcast.”
Joe Lunardi, director of marketing and broadcast services and former play-by-play partner with Tom McCarthy, said Patrick McCarthy has remained grounded in an industry that breeds large egos.
“Pat has clearly inherited a modesty and self-awareness, an ‘it’s not all about me’ attitude,” Lunardi said. “It’s the way he was raised.”
Patrick McCarthy has remained true to his father’s advice to always be prepared and finds it frustrating to go into a broadcast and miss something important.
“This is your job,” Patrick McCarthy said. “You owe to everyone listening to put your best foot forward.”
Renie Shields, senior associate athletic director for Student Experience, and Patrick McCarthy’s broadcast partner for the St. Joe’s women’s basketball games, talked about how his preparation is what sets him apart from other broadcasters she has worked with.
“I have worked with several announcers through the years and for someone so young to have the preparation he has is one his biggest attributes,” Shields said. “He takes every game seriously. He takes each game like it is the NBA Finals.”
Lunardi agreed, saying that for his age, Patrick McCarthy is extremely advanced in terms of both presence and preparation for all the sports he works with.
“The coaches and the athletics staff feel like he’s a pro,” Lunardi said. “I certainly feel comfortable that when [he’s] calling a game that the university is going to be represented well, whether the audience is big or small.”
Patrick McCarthy said that as he gets older, things get put in perspective, and he realizes that he wouldn’t want to do anything else.
“All the sacrifices my dad made my entire life; whether it was missing baseball games, missing birthdays etc., it set us up to have an amazing life,” Patrick McCarthy said.
Nick Karpinski ’21 contributed to this story.
