NCAA Women’s Final Four: ESPN Director Jimmy Platt on the Caitlin Clark Factor, His Favorite Tech Toys, and the Growth of the Women’s Game

Pratt and the rest of the production team relish the excitement around this year’s tourney

Big-time events are nothing new to Jimmy Platt, who has directed Monday Night Football, the CFP Championship Game, and countless other high-profile sports broadcasts during his decorated career. This weekend, however, will be different. Platt will be directing his sixth NCAA Women’s Final Four with seemingly the entire country fixated on the biggest star in all of sports: Caitlin Clark. 

ESPN’s Jimmy Platt began directing the NCAA Women’s Final Four in 2018.

In addition to directing college-basketball games for more than a decade — including the NCAA Women’s Basketball Final Four in 2018, 2019, and 2021-23 — Platt has worked a variety of other high-profile sports throughout his career, including NFL and college football, MLB, and lacrosse. He directed ESPN’s Monday Night Football from 2019 to 22 and was named director of ABC’s Saturday Night Football primetime package in March 2023.

SVG sat down with Platt to discuss what he expects from this weekend’s telecasts, the key cameras and production tools at his disposal, how he balances covering Clark with the rest of the game’s storylines, and how he has seen the women’s game explode in popularity over the past few years. 

CLICK HERE for SVG’s full story on ESPN’s NCAA Women’s Final Four production. 

How is the production team looking to ride the momentum from the Elite Eight into this weekend’s Final Four?
We have some amazing momentum not only from last year’s championship game and, obviously, the [Iowa–LSU] game this past Monday, but [the momentum] has been all season long. When you go back and look at viewership from the regular season and the early rounds, it is awesome to see. It has taken the buzz from last year and carried it on throughout this season as well. It’s remarkable.

What are a few of the key cameras and production tools you’re most excited about this weekend?
The camera complement is largely similar to last year: Railcam and Skycam are both back, along with a drone outside the building — and we will do virtual graphics on all of those. We have a plethora of things at our disposal not only to help us capture the scene but also to allow us to showcase how much the event has grown over the years.

We did go way more robust in terms of high-frame-rate cameras. We’ll be running seven high-speed cameras compared to three last year. That’s a big upgrade for us and was long overdue.

We’re also adding one additional cinematic camera that we also had [for Elite Eight games] in Albany, which we placed on the far-side baseline. [The Sony HDC-5500] bounced either left or right based on what bench was the story. And also we’re able to provide all that footage to our edit team in a [format] that they prefer when they’re editing teases, high-end features, and that sort of thing. We’re testing out a brand-new lens that Fuji just came out with recently: their new Duvo 24mm-300mm lens, and the quality is just stunning. That has been really cool to see. We were able to capture some nice images in Albany, and we’ll obviously continue to do so here in Cleveland.

We had both of those cinematic cameras [for the Elite Eight games] in Albany to capture those key moments in a cinematic capacity, and we’re excited to have them here in Cleveland. What those [cameras] have been able to capture has been a game-changer [in terms of] creating an emotional connection for our viewers at home as they’re watching these women play basketball at such a high level.

Let’s go back to Monday’s Iowa–LSU game. What was it like to be at the front bench for such an unforgettable game?
It’s why you do this job: moments like that. When you see the matchup potentially happening, you just pray it lines up the way you hope it will. Thankfully, we got what we had hoped for with Iowa and LSU on Monday night. You just have to pinch yourself because there aren’t many opportunities where you will get an event that is as memorable as that show. Last year’s championship game is something that I’ll always remember, and I knew going into Monday night in Albany that it was going to be something special. Quite frankly, you know that every game you get to do of Caitlin’s is going to have that magnitude, so it’s phenomenal to be a part of that.

It’s our job to be positioned to cover her and the stories behind it all. It’s why you put in all the preparation and work that goes unseen except for that two hours when everybody’s watching. The amount of time and prep that goes into just that two hours is astronomical. But, after you put in that level of preparation, you get to go out and just have fun with your teammates. From our tape room to our camera folks to graphics to video to audio, we all get to laugh and enjoy and embrace the moment as it unfolds. The best part about doing sports is that you never know exactly what’s going to unfold when the story begins. It’s the only true version of reality television that exists, because there’s no predicting exactly what will happen. It’s our job to react and capture those special moments as the story of the game is unfolding, and that night in Albany is a moment that’s going to stick with me for a very long time.

When dealing with a star on the level of Caitlin Clark, how do you manage covering her along with all the other storylines of the game?
Every shot has to have a purpose. You have to ask yourself: Why are you going to this shot of Caitlin? Does it have a purpose in the moment, or are you just going to it for the sake of going to it?

If you go back to Monday night and see how many times Caitlin or Angel Reese was shown, I know it was a ton. But those two were the story of the game, so it’s our job to put them front and center. Now, I admit that, if Caitlyn had had an off game, she still would have been the story. And, when Angel fouled out, she became a good chunk of the story late in the game. But I never go into a game thinking, I have to limit how much I show Caitlyn or, for that matter, Reese or Kate Martin or Sydney Affolter. I [am focused on] showing them at the right times and in the right moments.

One thing I did pay attention to in Albany, and will here in Cleveland, is how often we show Caitlin’s mom and dad. Obviously, they have been an integral part of the story for her, but I also want to make sure that the family [storyline] isn’t overdone — which, frankly, I think it was for much of the regular season and in the early-tournament coverage. Producer Kerry Callahan and I go in with the mindset that there is certainly a time and a place to show mom and dad, but let’s be mindful of how often we go to them. I thought we did a good job in Albany of using them when it was relevant and when the announcers were talking about them. We’ll do the same this weekend.

People tune in to watch Caitlin; they tune in to watch Angel Reese. It’s my job to show those two and the supporting cast of the movie. Are you going to show Julia Roberts and Richard Gere a thousand times in a movie? Yes, of course you are, because they are the stars you paid for and they are who people came to see. The same is true of Caitlin. It’s my job to balance that within the overall scene and structure of the telecast.

How have you seen the profile of the women’s game grow since you took over the Final Four in 2018?
It has been tremendous just to be a part of this ride. I’ve been fortunate enough to do the Final Four since 2018, when [Notre Dame’s Arike Ogunbowale hit] the buzzer-beating jumper with one second left to beat UConn [in the 2018 national semis], and we’ve had a great run of games since then. To see the ratings and interest and buzz and conversation grow to this level has been amazing.

I have a daughter, and, while she doesn’t play basketball, she does gymnastics. This has been inspiring and exciting for the future of all [women’s sports]. More people watching the product is always good, and I think a lot of them that haven’t seen the women’s game before have been blown away at the quality of play. From a pure basketball perspective, the way the women’s game is played is beautiful in terms of ball movement, passing, and teamwork versus the men’s game, which is more about brute force and the work being done in the paint. It has a different flow and a different rhythm to it. When it’s played at a really high level and the ball moves like it does and defense is played like it’s played in the tournament, it’s genuinely a beautiful thing to watch.

It has also been great to see these women have the torch passed to them from great women before them and now to be able to hand it down to the next generation of young ladies. I think you’re now seeing this game get the respect it deserves and that’s long overdue. Hopefully, the game continues to be elevated in the years ahead.