Rece Davis (born }) is an American sports television

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

for

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

. Davis works as an anchor on ''

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 ...

'' and serves as host of various other programs on the network, including '' College GameDay'' football road show and basketball show. Since 2021, he has been ESPN's lead host for international soccer events.

Early life and career

Davis, a native of

Muscle Shoals, Alabama Muscle Shoals is the largest city in Colbert County, Alabama, Colbert County, Alabama, United States. It is located along the Tennessee River in the northern part of the state and, as of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the populati ...

, graduated in 1988 from the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

, earning Bachelor of Arts degrees in both Broadcast News and Public Affairs. While a student at Alabama, Davis regularly worked as a freelance television play-by-play announcer, studio host, and radio personality in select media outlets throughout the state, all positions that were primarily unpaid internships. In 1987, Davis began working as a general assignment reporter for WCFT-TV in

Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal and Piedmont plains meet. Alabama's fifth-largest city, it had an estimated population of 1 ...

. In 2001, Davis was named as an outstanding alumnus of the University of Alabama's School of Communication and Information Sciences.

Before ESPN

After graduating from Alabama, Davis served until 1993 in various positions at

WRBL WRBL (channel 3) is a television station in Columbus, Georgia, United States, affiliated with CBS and owned by Nexstar Media Group. Its studios are located on 13th Avenue in Columbus, and its transmitter is located in Cusseta. History WRBL fir ...

Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee County, with which it ...

. At WRBL, Davis worked as a sports reporter, the lead weekend news anchor, and later as WRBL's sports director. In 1993, Davis left Georgia for

Flint, Michigan Flint is the largest city and seat of Genesee County, Michigan, United States. Located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the region known as Mid Michigan. At the 2020 census, Flint had a population of 8 ...

. Davis began working as a sports anchor and reporter at

WJRT-TV WJRT-TV (channel 12) is a television station licensed to Flint, Michigan, United States, serving as the ABC affiliate for northeastern Michigan. Owned by Allen Media Broadcasting, the station maintains studios on Lapeer Road in Flint, with offi ...

, a position where the young journalist would quickly garner the attention of

Career at ESPN

Davis left WJRT and Flint in March 1995 for

Bristol, Connecticut Bristol is a suburban city located in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, southwest-west of Hartford. The city is also 120 miles southwest from Boston, and approximately 100 miles northeast of New York City. As of the 2020 census, the ...

. He began working for the

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially fo ...

program ''SportSmash'', where he provided five-minute reports on sports news and scores. Davis hosted ESPN2's ''

NBA 2Night ''NBA Tonight'' is a National Basketball Association studio program that airs on ESPN. The program used to air as part of ESPN's ''The Trifecta''. Formerly known as ''NBA 2Night'' and NBA Fastbreak, the program, hosted by various ESPN personalities ...

'' in 1996 and 1997. From 1997 through 1999, Davis served as studio host of ESPN2's weekend ''RPM 2Night'' and Sunday morning ''RPM 2Day'' programs. Davis went on to anchor the program ''

'', alongside a number of other ESPN personalities. Davis also frequently gave the "Extra Point" report of ''

The Dan Patrick Show ''The Dan Patrick Show'' is a syndicated radio and television sports talk show, hosted by former ESPN personality Dan Patrick. It is currently produced by Patrick and is syndicated to radio stations by Premiere Radio Networks, within and indepen ...

'' on

ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN". ...

, and from time to time was a guest host on the program. Davis works on ''

'',

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

and

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the network. Previously, Davis hosted

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

telecasts during the

Triple Crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States) ** Triple Crown Trophy ** Triple Crown Productions * Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Trip ...

season. Davis was formerly the regular season host of ''

College Football Live ''College Football Live'' is a show that airs weekdays during the college football season on ESPN or ESPN2, and ESPNU. Its premiere was on Monday, July 23, 2007. Wendi Nix serves as the lead host, and it also features ESPN college football analyst ...

'' which airs daily during college football season and has served as the studio anchor of '' College GameDay'' football show and

College Football Final ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The co ...

. He is also the host of the '' College GameDay'' basketball road show. From 2006 to 2009, he was one of the hosts for

's coverage of the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

and the lead host of the

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

and

2009 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup was the eighth Confederations Cup, and was held in South Africa from 14 June to 28 June 2009, as a prelude to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The draw was held on 22 November 2008 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Joh ...

. He returned to soccer as the host of

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

on ESPN/ABC. On February 5, 2015, ESPN announced Davis signed a multi-year contract with the network through 2021 that included taking over as host of the ''College GameDay'' football road show in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

for

Chris Fowler Chris Fowler (born ) is an American sports broadcaster for ESPN, who serves as the play-by-play announcer for '' Saturday Night Football'' on ABC and ESPN’s tennis coverage. He is also known for his work on '' College GameDay'', which he h ...

, who had hosted the show since 1990. The deal also sees Davis discontinue his ''

ESPN College Football Thursday Primetime ''ESPN College Football Primetime'' is a live game presentation of Division 1-FBS college football on ESPN or sometimes ESPN2. In the past, the presenting sponsor was Cooper Tires, but since the 2006 season, the current presenting sponsor is Appl ...

'' duties but continue his weekly basketball play-by-play role. Davis said of his work at ESPN, "I don't think of my job as being hard. I know I'm the luckiest guy around. I get to watch basketball and talk about it. When you never feel as if you go to work, it's really easy and fun to do the homework."Dave Magarity - The Most Portly and Stout Site on the Web
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References

External links

Rece Davis bio
at ESPN Media Zone * {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Rece American horse racing announcers American television sports anchors American television sports announcers American sports announcers American sports journalists College basketball announcers in the United States College football announcers ESPN people Major League Baseball broadcasters National Basketball Association broadcasters Women's college basketball announcers in the United States University of Alabama alumni People from Muscle Shoals, Alabama Living people Association football commentators Year of birth missing (living people)