Scott Rabalais: You can thank this LSU grad for bringing you the NCAA tournament on CBS

Grant steps into the rather large shoes left by former CBS director Bob Fishman, who retired after 40 years as lead director for the NCAA tournament. Last year’s Final Four in New Orleans marked the end of his run.

Grant, 63, was beginning to contemplate retiring himself when CBS Sports executives invited him up to New York for a charity golf tournament in May 2021.

“They said, ‘We wanted you to play in this golf tournament, but we called you up here for another reason,’ ” Grant said. “ ‘We want you to be the next lead director for college basketball.’

“I was pretty stunned. And I accepted right away. The whole thing about retirement was off the table now.”

Grant said he’s committed to doing the next five NCAA tournaments.

“Mark is one of the most gifted and creative directors in sports,” CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus said. “He is a true maestro when it comes to capturing the drama and excitement at events he is directing. He is a great leader and collaborator, who is never afraid to take risks and has set the standard for innovative directing.”

Will Grant make changes in how the NCAA tournament, particularly the Final Four, is presented? To a degree, he said. Every director has his or her own style. But not so much that the average viewer will find it jarringly different.

“There’s things that I do that Bob wouldn’t do,” Grant said. “But you’d have to have a really good eye for it to notice.”

Grant’s motivation as a director is, in a sense, not all that different from Spielberg’s. He’s drawn to the emotions of a game.

“I like to get the tight shots and the players’ faces,” he said. “The angry coach on the sideline.

“Sometimes the tears are more important than the guy who hit the game-winning shot.”

But with such a big event, there is also much to balance. Grant will contend with at least 15 cameras, drones (no SkyCam at Houston’s NRG Stadium for this Final Four, Grant said, because the scoreboard hangs too low over the court). All camera angles are recorded for replays he must splice into the live action.