For the upcoming college basketball season, as in any other year, ESPN is filming some commercials. This year's offering is reportedly set in a call center, where students from various college basketball powerhouses solicit people to watch basketball. Fair enough.

What's not so fair is the way they're going about casting the spot. Thanks to Awful Announcing, which apparently got its hands on the leaked internal casting call, we can see how brutally stereotypical TV producers are. Some of these aren't so bad, but some are, well, like this:

SEEKING:

[ DUKE UNIVERSITY ] MALE. Our guy for Duke UNIVERSITY is a smart, with it, young WHITE male. He's handsome. He's from money. He is, in short, the kind of guy, everyone can't stand. He is the kind of guy everyone wants to be.

[ CONNECTICUT ] MALE. Connecticut is all things Connecticut. He's a little bit older.
He's a little bit thicker around the waist. He's WHITE. He's also competitive. Very. Waspy, blue blood.

[ LOUISVILLE ] MALE. Louisville is very true to place. He's short. He's HISPANIC. And one day he hopes to carry on in proud Louisville tradition and race thoroughbreds.

[ NOTRE DAME ] MALE He's an ASIAN kid who is in to all things Notre Dame, ridiculously so. Oh, and he's always fighting. Every time we encounter him he always has some words or another, be it the faint traces of a black eye, or a scab or whatever. He epitomizes the fightin' Irish.

[ MEMPHIS ] MALE. What can we say about Memphis? He's a southern BLACK kid, really culinary and polite. He's artistic, and draws comic books really well.

Remember, kids: Everyone that goes to Duke is rich and "WHITE". Same goes for Connecticut. In Louisville they're all "short", equestrian and "HISPANIC". At Notre Dame, they're all "ASIAN", because, duh, everyone knows that an "ASIAN kid" is smart. And in Memphis? Definitely all "BLACK". But not the impolite kind! Oh no, never that. This stereotypical black guy is a real sweetie.

Yikes, ESPN. And that's just a sampling. Most of the rest straddle the border between inexplicable (Oklahoma's ideal actor is someone who "thinks everything is awesome." Wha?) and tone deaf. Still, I'm excited for the commercial. Nothing gets people pumped for basketball like careless stereotypes, right?

Who's ready for some hoops? That "Jewish kid" from Syracuse knows what I'm talking about!

Update: ESPN has given a statement to Awful Announcing, saying: "Our marketing department just learned of this casting call today and the campaign is not something we will pursue. The language and approach reflected in that document were not approved by us and in no way represent ESPN or the respect we have for the college community." For the record, Liz Lewis Casting Partners is responsible for the tone and output of the call, not ESPN per se. Fair enough, then.

Related: Peculiarity, College Basketball Media