The last time Rich Eisen hosted an episode of SportsCenter, LeBron James was still a few weeks away from being drafted. But his return to his longtime former desk on Monday was perfect.

ESPN brought out some old-school graphics and music for Eisen’s introduction. During the introduction, Eisen said, “This show is all about strolling down memory lane,” later adding, “It’s about throwing a whole bunch at you while having an old school good time.”

Then it was time to start the show.

“Hey there,” Eisen said. “Saying this for the first time in 22 years, welcome to SportsCenter, alongside all of you, I am Rich Eisen.”

The Rich Eisen return to SportsCenter on ESPN even features an old-school SportsCenter intro.

(You can read more about Eisen hosting tonight’s SportsCenter here: https://t.co/9wMEdkxOQd) pic.twitter.com/Wxn12gncv3

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 19, 2025

Eisen then moved to his interview with ESPN’s Monday Night Football announcers, Joe Buck and Troy Aikman. He started with a “stroll down memory lane,” going back to when he first began hosting SportsCenter in 1996. That was Buck’s first year calling the World Series on Fox, as Eisen remembered, with visuals. There were also visuals for Aikman in 1996, as he was still quarterbacking the Dallas Cowboys, one year after winning his third Super Bowl.

“Yes, the Cowboys actually did play in a Super Bowl,” Aikman quipped.

Rich Eisen interviews Joe Buck and Troy Aikman on SportsCenter, first remembering where they were in 1996 (which features visuals of Joe calling MLB for Fox). https://t.co/beaPmgKrSE pic.twitter.com/WEbQ7lAZbB

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 19, 2025

More flashbacks came when Eisen did the highlights for Monday night’s preseason game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Washington Commanders. He shouted out Chris Berman, even mimicking his voice. And to top it all off, the old NFL Primetime music was back.

Rich Eisen is pumped to have the NFL Primetime music for his SportsCenter call of Bengals-Commanders highlights and recognizes Chris Berman to start it. 🏈📺🎙️ https://t.co/beaPmgKrSE pic.twitter.com/lSIxJ4tY2b

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 19, 2025

Naturally, Eisen’s SportsCenter return included a tribute to Stuart Scott.

Eisen spoke of his late, great former partner, then used many of Scott’s most famous calls when reading the highlights for Monday’s MLB game between the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs.

And of course, Rich Eisen’s return to SportsCenter included a tribute to his longtime partner, the late, great, Stuart Scott. https://t.co/beaPmgJU36 pic.twitter.com/NBA5LlRmmN

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 19, 2025

Eisen also dropped a lot of Stuart Scott’s most famous calls into the Brewers-Cubs highlight package. pic.twitter.com/UHr6EJbCh9

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 19, 2025

Indeed, a lot has changed since Eisen last called SportsCenter. But on Monday night, it was as if he never left.