3 possible candidates to replace former Cavs play-by-play announcer Fred McLeod

It’s still so difficult to come to grips with the Cleveland Cavaliers no longer having Fred McLeod calling games, but here’s a few possible candidates to replace him alongside Austin Carr as play-by-play broadcaster.

The Cleveland Cavaliers and their fanbase are going to miss play-by-play announcer Fred McLeod, who died on Monday at the age of 67, so dearly.

McLeod was a fixture alongside Cavaliers legend Austin Carr as play-by-play announcer for Cavs games since 2006 (per the team), and his passion for broadcasts was something that was evident in every single game, no matter how Cleveland’s season was going.

Now, though, the Cavaliers/Fox Sports Ohio (the network all Cavs games are shown on), need to make a decision soon on the individual that will replace McLeod, which will be a role that’s so difficult to fill, but a candidate should be able to in due time if they put the work in and engage viewers.

At this point, according to Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor, no potential candidates have been really named, but again, the team has training camp coming up very soon this month, and preseason to follow.

The 2019-20 regular season begins on Oct. 23 at the Orlando Magic, too, so a decision will have to come soon. Here are a few possible candidates that could be the other play-by-play announcer alongside Carr for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

#3: Michael Reghi

Michael Reghi would be a very familiar face and voice for fans of the Cavaliers, and Cleveland sports in general.

Reghi has extensive radio play-by-play experience, can be seen/heard calling ESPN college football games (h/t Browns Wire’s Brad Ward), and can also be heard on ESPN Radio in Cleveland (850 WKNR, per Ward).

Reghi has tons of experience covering college/professional sports, as he’s done so since 1986 (per a recent tweet) and he definitely has quite the announcer’s voice.

The flare he has in his delivery both in talk radio shows and in live broadcasts to me, was the reason he was one of the Cavs’ play-by-play announcers from 1993-2006, so before McLeod filled that role (per Ward). Needless to say, his experience really speaks for itself.

Reghi would be a candidate that is more than capable of engaging viewers, and with his longstanding presence in Cleveland, I’d think he’d be a fine candidate alongside AC.

#2: Angel Gray

Angel Gray served as a Cavs reporter last season for the team/Fox Sports Ohio, and did a great job in that role, and can be seen often as a regular presence on pre/postgame shows (per Fox Sports Ohio).

She does a variety of player and coach interviews throughout games, and seems to have established a tremendous rapport with Austin Carr in pre and postgame coverage for Cavs.com/Fox Sports Ohio, which to me makes her a very intriguing candidate.

Gray was previously a play-by-play announcer for the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks on Spectrum Sportsnet and, per Fox Sports Ohio, was a sideline reporter for the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream prior to that working for Fox Sports Southeast, and has worked for NBA TV as well.

She now has over nine years of experience reporting in a variety of sports, and as a four-year player at Florida State, Gray’s feel for the game to me is the reason she’d be a particularly sensible candidate to replace McLeod.

As a sideline reporter for the Cavs last year, Gray did really well (along with Cayleigh Griffin, who reported for the Cavs, too), but she has the capability with her experience as a former player and a play-by-play announcer before, to me, to call Cleveland Cavaliers games with Carr.

As a young reporter (31), she brings a youthful enthusiasm to broadcasts and is especially in-tune with the current game, and it’d be an interesting contrast with her and the elder statesman now in Carr that I’d advocate for, with Griffin taking the sideline reporting duties.

#1: Jeff Phelps

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Jeff Phelps is a personality that is also really well established in the Cleveland area. Phelps can be seen on pre and postgame coverage for the Cavs, along with during halftime on Fox Sports Ohio primary alongside the likes of former Cleveland Cavaliers player Campy Russell.

Phelps has doing that quite a while, and always brings good perspective and initiates meaningful basketball commentary well for his co-hosts, just as McLeod always did.

Phelps has similar chemistry with Carr as McLeod did, too (and it appears that Gray is doing so now), and with Phelps’ extensive experience in reporting on Mid-American Conference (MAC) sports and being involved with play-by-play for MAC “football and basketball games,” (per 923thefan.radio.com), he’d be a natural fit to call Cavs games I believe, given his already extensive role in their coverage.

He’s been with Fox Sports since 2003 in varying roles (per the aforementioned 92.3 The Fan reference), and can be heard on 92.3 The Fan’s “Baskin and Phelps” on weekdays in the Cleveland area.

He’s been around a variety of different scenarios.

That includes when the Cavs had a 26-game losing streak back in the time of LeBron James‘ first free agency exit, when the Cavs won the championship in 2016, and most recently, when Kevin Love only appeared in 22 games (per Basketball Reference) in 2018-19 mostly due to reported toe surgery, and the team finished 19-63 (per NBA.com).

With the team likely featuring key young pieces such as Collin Sexton, Darius Garland, Cedi Osman and Dylan Windler next season and in coming years, a bunch of losses are likely to follow, but Phelps always has nice perspective to all scenarios and it shows regardless of the final box scores.

Moreover, Phelps is witty, and always brings his share of humor to both appearances on Fox Sports Ohio and on the radio, and combined with AC, a jokester himself the way McLeod was as well, Phelps could be another possible candidate to replace McLeod for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Do you have any suggestions on possible McLeod play-by-play replacements for Cleveland?

Feel free to let us know in the comments section, on Twitter (@KJG_NBA) or on Facebook (@fansidedkjg). Thanks as always, readers!