Leo Rautins, a former college All-American, NBA and Canadian Olympic Team veteran, joined ESPN in November 1996 as a men’s college basketball analyst. Currently he works select BIG EAST games, among other assignments.

Rautins has also served as a television analyst for the NBA’s Toronto Raptors (fellow ESPNer John Saunders handled the play-by-play), the NBA on CTV (Canadian Television), and ESPN Regional Television’s Big East contests. In addition, he is an analyst for the FAN radio in Toronto.

Generally regarded as one of the best basketball players ever to come out of Canada, the Toronto native starred at Syracuse from 1981-83, earning All-American and Big East Tournament MVP honors (he spent his freshman year of 1979 at Minnesota, where he was a Big 10 All-Rookie pick). A first round NBA draft pick (17th overall) of the Philadelphia 76ers in 1983, Rautins spent two seasons with the 76ers, Indiana Pacers and Atlanta Hawks before playing for seven seasons in the Italian (1985-87), French (1989-90 and ’92) and Spanish (1991-92) professional leagues.

The youngest player ever to make Canada’s national team at age 16, Rautins played for the squad from 1977-82, and again from 1989-92. He was a member of the 1980 Olympic team that did not compete because of the boycott. He retired from the sport in December 1992 after his 14th knee operation.

Currently, Rautins also owns and operates youth basketball camps and clinics across Canada and upstate New York.

Rautins is a 1983 graduate of Syracuse’s prestigious S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications with a degree in Broadcast Journalism. Born March 20, 1960, he and his wife Maria have three sons.