Dick Vitale 'surprised' late CBS hoops analyst Billy Packer isn't in Hall of Fame

Dick Vitale was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008. He says it’s "hard to believe" that Billy Packer, longtime CBS college basketball analyst who died Thursday at age 82, is not enshrined alongside him.

"No doubt that Dick (Enberg), Al (McGuire) & Billy (Packer) were the Best Trio ever," Vitale wrote on Twitter Saturday, in response to a picture of the legendary broadcasting team shared by Packer's son Brandt. 

Brandt, a producer at Golf Channel, captioned the photo: "You know these 3 are in Heaven acting just like you see here. Dad and Al both passed on Jan 26 and you just know Al and Billy are disagreeing over something while Dick is trying to bring some clarity to the situation."

Vitale said he "respected so much Billy’s great LOVE for his family & college hoops." He added that is was "hard to believe Billy not inducted into Naismith Hall of Fame."

OBIT: Longtime college basketball broadcaster Billy Packer dies at 82

The sports world continued to mourn the loss of a legend. 

On Friday, during third round live coverage on CBS of the Farmers Insurance Open, Jim Nantz had some kind words for his friend and colleague, calling him "one of the most important figures in CBS Sports' proud history."

Nantz is calling the golf action in San Diego remotely from Kansas City. On Sunday, he'll do play-by-play for the AFC championship game between the Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals. But for 18 years he worked the NCAA Tournament, culminating in the Final Four, alongside Packer.

"Billy called 34 national championships before retiring in 2008. He was a true character. He was fearless in his commentary while deeply faithful to his friends and family," Nantz said.

Earlier in the day, while appearing on CBS Mornings, Nantz said Packer was a "genius" and "will go down in history as one of the greatest analysts in the history of sports television," alongside the likes of John Madden. 

Packer worked the Final Four for NBC and CBS from 1975-2008.

Packer's son Brandt posted a message of tribute to his father on Twitter on Thursday night.

Packer's son Mark told the Associated Press that his father had been hospitalized in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the past three weeks and had several medical issues, and ultimately succumbed to kidney failure.

"He really enjoyed doing the Final Fours," Mark said. "He timed it right. Everything in life is about timing. The ability to get involved in something that, frankly, he was going to watch anyway, was a joy to him. And then college basketball just sort of took off with Magic Johnson and Larry Bird and that became, I think, the catalyst for college basketball fans to just go crazy with March Madness."

Packer joined CBS in 1981, when the network acquired the rights to the NCAA Tournament, and remained the network's main analyst until 2008.

Sean McManus, the chairman of CBS Sports, said Packer was "synonymous with college basketball for more than three decades and set the standard of excellence as the voice of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament."

Golf Channel also paid tribute to Billy Packer during Friday's pre-round coverage.

Jace Evans, ydney Henderson from Paste BN Sports contributed to this article.