Katz first started in sports journalism as play-by-play for
Newton North and
Newton South High School games in 1985 as a senior in high school, and then at
The Daily Cardinal,
Wisconsin State Journal, and
Milwaukee Journal in college. Before Katz joined ESPN, he was a sports reporter for
The Fresno Bee (1995–1999); the
Albuquerque Journal (1990–1995); and the
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (1989–1990) At ESPN, Katz had a notable incident for mispronouncing "
bulging discs" during coverage of the
2012 NBA draft. He profiled
Barack Obama's love of basketball as part of ESPN's coverage of the
2008 United States presidential election, which later resulted in eight appearances of "
Barack-etology" during his presidency. He also was a primary backup to
Bob Ley on
Outside The Lines, ESPN's sports investigative journalism program. On April 26, 2017, Katz was among over 100 employees laid off by ESPN. After leaving ESPN, Katz did color commentary for the
Paradise Jam tournament held in Lynchburg, VA. Later in 2017, Katz took on a role with the Big Ten Network as a studio analyst. Since then, he expanded his role to include color commentary and sideline reporting, and appears on
NCAA March Madness as a sideline reporter and studio analyst during the tournament as part of his role with the NCAA. He also makes appearances on
NBA TV and
FoxSports.com. ==References==