Bill Raftery may avoid famous catchphrases during Rome opener - ESPN

ROME — Hold the onions. Don't mention the lingerie. But maybe «a little kiss» of the pope's ring.

Bill Raftery is considering dialing back some of his famous catchphrases for his first broadcasting assignment of the college basketball season.

That's because Pope Leo XIV could be listening.

Raftery will be the Fox analyst when Leo's alma mater, Villanova, meets fellow Catholic university Notre Dame in Rome on Sunday. The Eternal City Tip-Off was created to honor the first American pope.

Raftery is known for phrases such as «onions!» for clutch baskets and «lingerie on the deck» for when a defender figuratively gets faked out of their shorts by an opponent. And of course: «With a little kiss» for old-school bank shots off the glass.

«I've got to refrain from some probably in deference to the pope,» Raftery told The Associated Press before flying to Rome. «But something might pop out that might cost me a day in the confessional booth.»

Because, as Raftery explained, «anything I've ever done has been spontaneous.»

More than halfway through his fifth decade as a college basketball commentator, Raftery is relishing his first trip to Rome since his 1969 honeymoon.

The event — a doubleheader between the Villanova and Notre Dame men's and women's teams, though Raftery will call only the men's game — includes a private audience with the pope on Saturday for the four teams and their fans.

«It's a business trip, but this one's got side doors to go out and see some incredible sights,» Raftery said, adding that between his wife, Joan, four children and multiple grandchildren, «over 10 of us will be there.»

Raftery wishes one more person could experience the trip too: Rollie Massimino, the coach who guided Villanova to the 1985 NCAA