Naismith Memorial and Women's Basketball Hall of Famer Debbie Antonelli is a men’s and women’s college basketball analyst for ESPN and CBS and one of the most influential voices in the women’s game as a standout player, marketing executive and broadcaster for nearly four decades.

Throughout her over 35-year career as a television and radio analyst, Antonelli has called men’s and women's college basketball for ESPN, CBS, RAYCOM Sports and Westwood One, among others. She has also served as a WNBA analyst since the league’s inception, including a combined over 25 years with the Indiana Fever and Charlotte Sting. She currently provides WNBA content to ESPN BET. 

In addition to calling NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament games for ESPN, Antonelli became the first woman in 22 years to call NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament games when she worked first-round and second round games in 2017 as an analyst, a role she currently occupies.

Overall, Antonelli averages over 80 college and professional basketball broadcasts per season.

Antonelli has received numerous accolades throughout her pioneering career, including: 

• Two Emmy Awards and a Gracie Award

• 2007 Recipient of the Mel Greenberg Award from the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association, as the professional who had best displayed commitment to advancing the role of the media in promoting women’s basketball

• 2021 Inductee into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame

• 2022 Inductee into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame

• 2023 Recipient of the Jake Wade Award from The College Sports Communicators, presented annually to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution in the media to intercollegiate athletics

• 2024 Recipient of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame’s Curt Gowdy Media Award

• 2025 Inductee into the NC State Women’s Basketball Ring of Honor

Antonelli created an annual fundraiser called 24 Hours Nothing But Net (24HoursNBN.com), a 24-hour free throw shooting marathon to raise money and awareness for Special Olympics. Antonelli makes 100 free throws on the top of every hour for 24 hours so at the end of 24 hours, she has made 2400. In six years, she passed $1 million in May 2024 and shoots free throws at a 94% average. 

The mother of three boys, Antonelli’s middle son Frankie is a young adult living with Down syndrome and recent graduate of the ClemsonLife Program, which offers a collegiate experience that prepares young men and women with intellectual disabilities for competitive employment and independent living through a combination of academic coursework and career exploration. 

Similar to the ClemsonLife Program, Antonelli was the driving force in creating the Elevate Program at NC State. Elevate is an Inclusive Post-Secondary Education Program that provides a person-centered campus experience for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities opportunities to ‘think and do’ in order to enrich academic knowledge, transform career and occupational skills, and advance personal and social development.

Antonelli is also a national spokesperson and parent advocate for special education.