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NEW YORK – Billy Packer didn’t sound like a man who found out his 34-year run as part of the Final Four broadcast had ended.

On Monday, CBS announced that Clark Kellogg would replace Packer after 27 years as the network’s lead college basketball analyst. Including his earlier years at NBC, Packer had done every Final Four since 1975, an unparalleled run for a national sports championship.

“These are really good circumstances,” Packer told The Associated Press by phone. “This decision was made with myself and CBS over a year ago. Their timing to announce it is their business. I have nothing to do with that. I was working on a series of 1-year contracts for several years. ... I did say there would be no mention during the season so as not to detract from the games and the guys involved.”

Kellogg, a game and studio analyst for CBS for 16 years, will be the man next to Jim Nantz on the 2009 Final Four broadcasts.

“With his unquestioned popularity and performance over the years, Clark Kellogg earned all rights to this top spot,” Sean McManus, president of CBS News and Sports, said in a statement. “Like Billy Packer, Al McGuire or any of the most highly regarded broadcasters, Clark is an original voice with his own style and perspective.”

The 68-year-old Packer said he was “happy” for Kellogg, who played at Ohio State and then in the NBA.

“I think he has worked his trade and certainly as a player was a student of the game. His work at CBS and the fact he is such a smart guy should serve him well,” Packer said. “I wish him nothing but the best.”

Packer also will end his long run as an analyst for Raycom, a regional network that covers the Atlantic Coast Conference.

“I have had a chance to broadcast most of the great games since college basketball got on national television and I’m not interested in broadcasting any more games,” he said. “I enjoyed doing that but I won’t be any more.”

Rim shots

The son of North Carolina State basketball coach Sidney Lowe pleaded guilty to dozens of charges connected to a March 2007 armed robbery. A sentencing hearing for Sidney Lowe II began and is expected to end today in Guilford County Superior Court. Defense lawyer Joe Cheshire said his client was “completely remorseful.” Lowe entered guilty pleas to six counts each of robbery with a dangerous weapon and kidnapping, possession of a weapon on educational property, possession with intent to sell and deliver marijuana and possession of ecstasy under a plea agreement.

Teddy Dupay, who played on the Gators’ runner-up team in the 2000 NCAA basketball tournament, made an initial court appearance on charges of raping and kidnapping a woman at a Utah ski resort. Teddy Dupay did not enter a plea Monday in 3rd District Court. The 29-year-old Dupay is charged with felony rape, aggravated assault and aggravated kidnapping. In court documents, Dupay denies raping the woman.