Debbie Antonelli has been living and breathing basketball for 30 years.

She’s played, she’s coached and now is one of the top women’s basketball analysts in the country – covering men’s and women’s basketball for ESPN, CBS College Sports and FOX.

Even though she’s rubbed elbows with the likes of Michael Jordan and Evander Holyfield, it’s not uncommon to see the Mount Pleasant mom of three coaching youth basketball camp for the local rec department or driving one of her busy sons to an extracurricular activity.

Antonelli is able to sneak in the occasional round of golf but for the most part keeps busy with family, work and philanthropic endeavors.

If she’s not traveling for her job during basketball season, she’s hard at work researching, watching tape and preparing.

The country music fan carries the lyrics to the theme from Cheers (“Where Everybody Know Your Name”) in her briefcase when she travels – because the words remind her of her 12-year-old son Frankie who has Down syndrome.

And sitting down with the Mount Pleasant mom is comfortable and familiar. As famous as she is, she’s easy-going with an infectious sense of humor.

She took time between flights to sit down with Lowcountry Parent and give us a glimpse into her “double life.”

Q: Tell me about your family.

A: My husband Frank owns Empire Sports Management, a sports management company that manages celebrity golf tournaments. My sons are Joey, who is 14, Frankie who is 12 and Patrick who is 7.

Q: What are your boys like?

A: I say this about all my boys. They’re smart, funny, handsome, athletic and social. They’re really fun to be around. They’re nice kids.

And all that applies to Frankie, and then he just happens to have Down syndrome. I’ve never thought that having Down syndrome defined who he is. He is so much more than what you see when he walks in the door.

We don’t treat him any differently. There are a few accommodations that we have to work for educationally, but otherwise he’s just as active and involved and as much fun as the other guys.

Q: Is there an inclusion model at Frankie’s school?

A: Yes, Principal Leanne Sheppard (Pinckney Elementary) has been tremendous in her vision to create an inclusive environment.

Every teacher she has selected for Frankie has gone above and beyond … The way his teachers and the student body have embraced him. And it’s not the superficial high five in the hallway. It is genuine – all the kids know him and enjoy being around him. They’re always happy to see him.

The principal says she gets letters from parents requesting to be in Frankie’s class because they understand the inclusion model and that their own kids benefit from being a part of that.

Q: How do you balance motherhood and career?

A: Well, we just try to be organized. Try to make sure everybody has what they need. My husband is 100 percent supportive of everything that I do. I couldn’t do this if he wasn’t and if the boys didn’t get it … understand that I’m going to be gone some with my job. And we have full-time help.

And Frank is home every school night by 5 p.m. when I’m not there so that he can manage dinner, get them to bed or handle any homework issues. That’s very comforting.

I’m actually home more than I would be if I worked a 9 to 5 job. It just appears that I’m gone more because it’s such a large chunk of time (Christmas to Easter) but for the rest of the time I don’t have to travel as much. I still work, it’s just from home.

Q: How do you deal with the travel part of your job?

A: That’s not the glamorous part. My friends who work in the business who are single and without children certainly have a lot more flexibility than I do. I take the first flight in and a lot of times I take the last flight out. So it’s a lot of early mornings and late nights, but if you’re a parent you understand early mornings and late nights.

Q: What’s a common misconception about your career?

A: Growing up I always thought people who were on TV were rich and famous – well, neither of those is true. I’m not rich, and I’m not famous. And I think there are still times when it appears I have two different lives because the lifestyle of being on the road and working games and being so public is one life and then there’s my home life.

I think if those people and “that life” came to Mount Pleasant and saw me up at 6 a.m. getting my kids ready for school and all the things that every other parent does – doing homework, running them around to all their activities they would be surprised. I think those two lives are so different on the surface.

Fundamentally it doesn’t change who I am, it’s just the perception is that if these “basketball people” came to my house and saw what my real life is like versus what my public life is like I think they’d be a little surprised to see how Frank and I live.

Q: What causes are you passionate about?

A: I am passionate about a couple of causes, Special Olympics is one and finding a cure for cancer is the other.

I think the passing of Eunice Kennedy Shriver created a whole other awareness of what people with special abilities are capable of doing. Everybody is different, and I think she just highlighted the fact that we need to embrace everyone for their differences.

I’m also on the board of directors for the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame and for the Kay Yow WBCA cancer fund ... my coach at N.C. State who died after a 23-year battle with breast cancer.

I don’t know anyone who hasn’t had cancer affect his or her life in some way – a friend, a family member. Being on this foundation board I want to help find a cure. I am doing everything that I can to help promote awareness and raise money. That is my coach’s legacy and I want to help that legacy grow.

Q: What’s the difference between men’s and women’s basketball?

A: I view the men’s and the women’s games differently in just that the men play above the rim and consistently the women are playing right at the rim. There are some women that can dunk now.

Q: What’s your thought on being female in a predominantly male profession?

A: I don’t look at it, for me, as being gender-specific because I do work in the men’s game and have always worked on the men’s side. I’m a basketball person. And because I have three children, I have chosen professionally to only work in basketball. I don’t want to work sidelining football. I don’t work spring sports, so I’m a basketball TV analyst. Sure, I’m a big sports fan and I follow all those other sports, but I can’t be gone all year, and if I worked in those other sports, I would be.

Q: Who are some of your favorite celebrity interviews?

A: The people I have interviewed who are the most famous are (tennis star) Billy Jean King (on air at halftime) and (boxer) Evander Holyfield, after he’d gotten his ear bitten off by Mike Tyson.

One of the most interesting interviews I ever conducted was with (retired basketball coach) John Wooden. He was recently voted by “Sporting News Magazine” as the No. 1 coach in history on its “top 50 coaches of all time list.” That was an interview I will never forget.

I had a post-game interview after Pat Summitt (head coach of the Tennessee Lady Vols) won game No. 900 and was the analyst when she won game No. 1,000 in February. And Jody Conradt (retired University of Texas) is another coach who won 900 … things that have happened historically that may never happen again, so those are strong memories.

Q: Are you ever able to find time for yourself?

A: (Laughter) No. Emphatically no. And it’s OK. I’m not interested in a walk on the beach. I’m not interested in a book at the pool. I still don’t carry a chair or book to the beach because if we go to the beach, I’m playing and involved with the kids.

Q: What has motherhood taught you?

A: Patience and tolerance and acceptance. That cliché about you can’t judge a book by its cover – it is so true. Walk a mile in somebody’s shoes. You should never prejudge anybody. You should never criticize another parent for the way they raise their children or how they discipline their children. And you should never say “my child will never do that.” I think motherhood has just helped me become so much better at everything that I do and have a fuller life.

Q: Highlight moment in your career?

A: I’d say at the ACC Men’s ‘99 Hoops package. I had two back-to-back games on the same day – North Carolina and Duke. Now, for basketball junkies to get to go to just one of those games would be really fun, but to get to work the game in Chapel Hill, sprint in my car 9 miles and 17 traffic lights between Dean Smith Center and Cameron Indoor Stadium – that was really cool.

I left the U.N.C. game. They were No. 1 in the country, and they were losing. It was their first loss of the season.

With a little less than four minutes left in the game (because we knew U.N.C. was going to lose), I got in my car and drove from Chapel Hill to Durham. I got to Cameron. They had already started, and I got in with about 18 minutes on the clock and Duke was up six-nothing.

For somebody who grew up in that area – I grew up in Cary – and the fact I got to work both of those games and pull that double was a big deal. That will always be a highlight for me.