Tirico joined ESPN in 1991 as a SportsCenter anchor, after four years as Sports Director at CBS affiliate WTVH-TV in Syracuse, New York, during his undergraduate years at Syracuse University. Tirico is noted for his versatile nature and the variety of assignments he has handled for SportsCenter. Tirico was the very first host seen on ESPNews. Tirico has handled the play-by-play for ESPN's Thursday night college football package (1997 to 2005), college basketball coverage (1997 to 2002), NBA coverage (2002 to 2016), and golf coverage for ESPN/ABC (1997 to 2015). Tirico has also hosted studio coverage of various ESPN and ABC covered events, including a stint on ESPN's Monday Night Countdown (previously known as NFL Prime Monday) from 1993 to 2001 and ABC's NBA studio shows. He also broadcasts NBA games on ESPN/ABC and usually does play-by-play for the NBA Finals on ESPN Radio. He anchored the 2009 U.S. Open (tennis) and co-anchored the 2014 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2016 (his last assignment at ESPN).