Stephanie Ready

Last updated
Stephanie Ready
Born1975
Takoma Park, Maryland, U.S.
Occupations
  • Coach
  • sports analyst
  • television personality
Years active1998–present
Known for Charlotte Hornets sideline reporter
Website Official Twitter account

Stephanie Ready (born 1975) is an American broadcaster for NBA on TNT and was formerly a broadcaster for the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Charlotte Hornets. Prior to her broadcasting career, she was a basketball coach and gained recognition as the first female coach of a men's professional league team in 2001. [1] [2] After a stint as a head coach at the NBA Development League, she was a part of Hornets’ broadcasts for over a decade, including a stint as the first full-time female NBA game analyst.

Contents

Personal life

Born in Takoma Park, Maryland, Ready attended National Cathedral School in Washington, D.C. followed by Coppin State University in Baltimore, where she played basketball and volleyball for the Coppin State Eagles. She ranked in the top 10 on the basketball career list in steals (2nd), assists (4th), points (8th) and rebounds (10th). Ready graduated cum laude with a bachelor's degree in psychology. Ebony magazine named her one of "The 56 Most Intriguing Blacks of 2001" along with Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, and Michael Jordan.

Career

Coppin State athletic director Ron "Fang" Mitchell urged Ready to hold off on graduate school and instead to pursue coaching, and he hired Ready to coach the women's volleyball team. [3] Ready was hired two weeks before the start of the season, at the time, Ready was one of the youngest Division I volleyball coaches in the country and soon an 129-match losing streak of Lady Eagles' was snapped. Mitchell called upon Ready again to assist him on the bench for Coppin State's men's basketball team. [4] She became only the third woman ever to coach Division I men's basketball; Jennifer Johnston of Oakland University in Michigan, [5] and Bernadette Mattox, who coached at the University of Kentucky from 1990 to 1995 under former coach Rick Pitino, were the others. Of the three, Ready was the only woman who was allowed to recruit off-campus. "It was a no-brainer", Mitchell told blackvoices.com, of his decision to hire Ready. "She's very detail-oriented and one of the most organized people I've had a pleasure to work with."[ This quote needs a citation ]

Before Ready resigned from Coppin State in August 2001, she had received a ringing endorsement from Mitchell, who had spoken to NBA Development League senior director Karl Hicks and Rob Levine. (now the G-League), From 2001 to 2003, she was an assistant coach for the now defunct Greenville Groove of the National Basketball Development League (now the G-league). She started as a Bobcats’ sideline reporter in 2004–05. In 2006 and 2007, Ready worked as a sideline reporter during the first and second rounds of the Women's Final Four of college basketball for ESPN2. Ready was also a part-time sideline reporter for TNT during the 2006 and 2007 NBA Playoffs, and the WNBA Playoffs on ESPN2 during 2006. After several years as the Hornets' sideline reporter and host on Fox Sports Carolinas, Ready was named an analyst on August 27, 2015, [6] making her the first full-time female NBA game analyst. [7] In 2018 she moved to Turner Sports. [8]

Related Research Articles

The Greenville Groove were a National Basketball Development League (NBDL) team based in Greenville, South Carolina. Playing their home games at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena, the Groove was a charter franchise of the league, which had four teams based in the Carolinas. They were the league champions for the inaugural 2001–02 season but the team folded after the 2002–03 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NBA TV</span> American sports pay television network

NBA TV is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and operated by Warner Bros. Discovery through TNT Sports. Dedicated to basketball, the network features exhibition, regular season and playoff game broadcasts from the NBA and related professional basketball leagues, as well as NBA-related content including analysis programs, specials and documentaries. The network is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The network also serves as the national broadcaster of the NBA G League and WNBA games. NBA TV is the oldest subscription network in North America to be owned or controlled by a professional sports league, having launched on November 2, 1999.

Nationally television broadcasts of National Basketball Association (NBA) games first aired on ABC from 1965 to 1973. In 2002, NBA games returned to ABC as part of a contract signed with the league, along with cable sister network ESPN. After the ABC Sports division was merged into ESPN Inc. by parent company Disney in 2006, broadcasts have since been produced by ESPN, and have primarily used the NBA on ESPN branding and graphics instead of the NBA on ABC branding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheryl Miller</span> American basketball player

Cheryl D. Miller is an American former basketball player. She was formerly a sideline reporter for NBA games on TNT Sports and also works for NBA TV as a reporter and analyst, having worked previously as a sportscaster for ABC Sports, TBS Sports, and ESPN. She was also head coach and general manager of the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allie LaForce</span> American sports journalist (born 1988)

Alexandra Leigh LaForce is an American journalist, model and beauty queen who won Miss Teen USA 2005. She is a reporter for TNT Sports, covering the NBA on TNT. She was previously the lead reporter for SEC college football games, a courtside reporter for college basketball games, and the host of We Need to Talk on the CBS Sports Network. LaForce also worked as a broadcast sports anchor and reporter for the Cleveland, Ohio, FOX affiliate WJW. She won a 2011 Emmy award for anchoring FOX 8's Friday Night Touchdown high school football show. She was Miss Teen USA in 2005, and played college basketball at Ohio University.

<i>NBA on TNT</i> NBA basketball telecasts aired by cable network TNT

NBA on TNT is an American presentation of National Basketball Association (NBA) games, produced by TNT Sports. In the United States, the TNT cable network has held the rights to broadcast NBA games since 1989, making it TNT's longest-running regular program and sporting event, dating back to only a year after TNT's launch on October 3, 1988. Its telecasts have also been streamed on its Max platform since 2023. TNT's NBA coverage includes the Inside the NBA studio show, weekly doubleheaders throughout the regular season on Tuesdays and Thursdays, a majority of games during the first two rounds of the playoffs, and one conference finals series.

<i>NBA Countdown</i> American television program

NBA Countdown, branded for sponsorship purposes as NBA Countdown Presented by DraftKings Sportsbook for ESPN editions and NBA Countdown Delivered by Papa John's for ABC editions respectively, is a pregame television show airing prior to National Basketball Association (NBA) telecasts on ABC and ESPN. The networks have aired NBA games since 2002. Typically, the program airs 30 or 60 minutes prior to the game. ESPN2 or another ESPN network may also be used as an overflow channel for the show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stacey Dales</span> Canadian basketball player and sports reporter (born 1979)

Stacey Dales is a Canadian-American former basketball player and a current reporter on the NFL Network. Dales was born in Collingwood, Ontario, and raised in Brockville, Ontario.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">One Sports</span> Philippine sports programming division of TV5

One Sports is the sports division of TV5 Network, Inc. and jointly-operated with sister company Cignal TV. One Sports supplies and airs major sporting events in the Philippines and the world for free-to-air TV channels TV5, RPTV, One Sports channel, Cignal-exclusive channels One Sports+, PBA Rush, NBA TV Philippines and UAAP Varsity Channel, and online esports streaming channel GG Network.

<i>NBA on ESPN</i> US television program

The NBA on ESPN is the branding used for the presentation of National Basketball Association (NBA) games on the ESPN family of networks. The ESPN cable network first televised NBA games from 1982 until 1984, and has been airing games currently since the 2002–03 NBA season. ESPN2 began airing a limited schedule of NBA games in 2002. ABC began televising NBA games under full ESPN production in 2006. On October 6, 2014, ESPN and the NBA renewed their agreement through 2025, and on July 24, 2024, its agreement was renewed through 2036.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heather Cox</span> American sports commentator

Heather Cox is an American sportscaster who is a sports reporter for NBC. As Heather Schoeny, she played college volleyball at University of the Pacific.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tina Cervasio</span> American sports anchor

Tina Cervasio is an American sports anchor. She is the lead sports anchor for Good Day New York on Fox 5 NY WNYW and the host of Sports Extra on Sunday nights at 10:30 in New York City. She has worked for CBS Sports Network as a sideline reporter, SiriusXM NBA Radio as a host, the New York Red Bulls television broadcasts as the pre-game and halftime host and reporter. Cervasio is the winner of Seven New York Emmy Awards as part of the New York Knicks Broadcasts on MSG Networks from 2008 to 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holly Rowe</span> American sports announcer

Holly Rowe is an American sports telecaster for the ESPN sports television network, as a sideline reporter for college football and basketball games. Rowe made Utah Jazz history on October 22, 2021, as the team's first female commentator in a game against the Sacramento Kings

Eric Collins is an American play-by-play sports announcer, currently the voice of the NBA's Charlotte Hornets on Bally Sports South.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anne Marie Anderson</span> American sportscaster

Anne Marie Anderson is a three-time Emmy Award winning broadcaster, keynote speaker and emcee. Having spent more than three decades in sports television, she has covered six Olympic games, heavyweight title fights, golf's majors, NBA/MLB playoffs and the Super Bowl among countless other marquee events. Anderson has served as a play-by-play announcer on several major networks including ESPN, ABC, NBC, FOX and TBS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Kustok</span> American sports reporter

Sarah Grace Kustok is an American sports reporter who works for the YES Network and Fox Sports. In 2017, she became the first female full-time analyst for an NBA team's local TV broadcasts, when the YES Network promoted her from sideline analyst for Brooklyn Nets games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ros Gold-Onwude</span> Nigerian-American sports broadcaster

Rosalyn Fatima Gold-Onwude is an American-Nigerian sports broadcaster. A native of New York City, Gold-Onwude played college basketball at Stanford and played on the Nigeria national team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria Taylor (sportscaster)</span> American sportscaster

Suzette Maria Taylor is an American sportscaster for NBC Sports. She has worked for ESPN and the SEC Network. She has covered college football, college volleyball, National Basketball Association (NBA), National Football League (NFL), and men's and women's college basketball.

As the national broadcaster of the NBA, CBS aired NBA games from the 1973–74 until the 1989–90 season, during which the early 1980s is notoriously known as the tape delay playoff era.

References

  1. ↑ "NBDL Makes History With Female Coach".
  2. ↑ Roquemore, Bobbi (2002). "Stephanie Ready: making history coaching male hoop stars - assistant coach of the National Basketball Developmental League's Greenville Groove". Ebony.
  3. ↑ Butterworth, Scott (Winter 2016). "Stephanie Ready '93 Is Once Again Blazing a New Career Path For Women". NCS Magazine.
  4. ↑ Rosenthal, Ken (7 September 1999). "Coppin engenders net gain with Ready". Baltimore Sun.
  5. ↑ "UT adds Johnston to women's basketball coaching staff". Toledo Blade. 17 August 2002.
  6. ↑ "One-On-One with Stephanie Ready".
  7. ↑ "FOX Sports Southeast Announces 2015-16 Hornets Telecast Team | Charlotte Hornets". Nba.com. Retrieved 2015-08-29.
  8. ↑ "Stephanie Ready leaves Hornets' broadcasts after over a decade". 16 December 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.