Jay Harris (born February 22, 1965 in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

) is an American journalist who has worked for ESPN since February 2003. Jay currently calls late night his home, seen primarily on the 11pm and midnight eastern editions of SportsCenter, and sometimes on the west coast Sportscenter from Los Angeles. Jay has hosted a variety of shows during his tenure at ESPN, including Sportscenter, Outside The Lines, NFL Live, Baseball Tonight, Cold Pizza, First Take, Friday Night Fights, and ESPN Sports Saturday on ABC.

Early life

Prior to ESPN, Harris worked for many years at WPGH-TV in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as a weeknight news anchor. He also has local morning radio news experience at

WAMO-FM WAOB-FM (106.7 MHz) is a non-commercial radio station licensed to Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, and serving the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, as well as parts of Eastern Ohio and the West Virginia panhandle. It is owned by St. Joseph Missions and ...

, and national news experience at American Urban Radio Networks, also in Pittsburgh. He also did local radio news at WOWI-FM in Norfolk, Virginia.

Accolades

Harris has several honors including: a Silver World Medal from the New York Festivals, a ''Robert L. Vann Award'' from the Pittsburgh Black Media Federation, an ''EXCEL Award'' from the Hampton Roads Black Media Professionals. He was also part of two Emmy Award-winning Sportscenter shows. Harris is a 1983 graduate of Chapel Hill High School in Chapel Hill, NC. A 1987 graduate of Old Dominion University, he received a ''Distinguished Alumni Award'' and served as the keynote speaker for its 100th commencement ceremony in 2003, and 2004, respectively.

Personal life

Harris is married to Stephanie Prigmore with 2 children. He is a member of the Nu Theta chapter of

Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate historically African American fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the 1905–1906 school year at Cornell University but later evolved int ...

fraternity. On the February 22, 2008 episode of ''

SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television show, television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of United States, American cable television, cable and satellite television television network, network ESPN. The show ...

'', Bill Walton presented Harris with a cake, to the surprise of Harris. Walton also noted that Harris shares the same birth date with famed basketball player Julius Erving.

References

*Hewitt, Dr. Clay W. The Glide Journal of Drexel College School of Journalism in Televised Communication Volume 4, July 2007 pp. 113–118

External links

* He also worked for the San Jose Mercury News and he resigned on March 19, 2001 as he did not want to fire employees after pressures from Knight Ridder group. Black List by Kristina Borjesson ed Les Arenes Living people African-American television personalities African-American sports announcers African-American sports journalists American television sports announcers 1965 births American horse racing announcers ESPN people Old Dominion University alumni Sportspeople from Norfolk, Virginia Journalists from Virginia 20th-century American journalists American male journalists 21st-century American journalists {{US-journalist-1960s-stub