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dedicated to focusing on stories of the Black experi- SPEARS» PAGE 8
Marc J. Spears, award-winning sportswriter and blogger and Senior NBA writer for ESPN’s Andscape, has been announced as the distinguished speaker for the 123rd Commencement of Langston University this coming May.
Spears regularly breaks NBA news on ESPN’s television platforms. His illustrious career has taken him all over the world to report. He co-wrote the novel,“The Spencer Haywood Rule,” and he was co-producer of the “Katrina Cop in the Superdome,” a 2010 documentary about the experiences of a black New Orleans police officer and other citizens as they sheltered in the Louisiana Superdome during the Hurricane Katrina disaster of 2005.
Andscape is ESPN’s platform ence in sports and Black identity. Spears began writing for the Black-led platform when it began in 2016 and expanded into many other ESPN platforms with a contract extension in 2019. His regular contributions include “Outside the Lines,” “NBA Today,” “SportsCenter,” and ESPN Radio.
Some of Spears most notable long- form work for Andscape includes an examination of black NBA players for the Utah Jazz and the Boston Celtics; the interracial marriage of German NBA legend Dirk Nowitzki; and the story of how former pro basketball player in the U.S., Stephon Marbury, became a star in China (Marbury is now the head coach for the Chinese Basketball Association).
Spears is a graduate of San Jose State University with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) with a focus in Journalism. He earned his master’s degree in Sports Business Management from Louisiana State University. He has covered the NBA for more than 20 years. His career includes time working for Yahoo! Sports as a national NBA reporter, and he has been the host of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame’s press conference three times.
Among his numerous national and regional awards, Spears has a Top 10 listing in the 2019 Associated Press Sports Editors contest for beat reporting for Category A outlets; and this year, Spears is a recipient of the Naismith Hall of Fame’s Curt Gowdy Media Award for his outstanding writing contributions to basketball.
President of Langston University, Kent J. Smith, Jr., made the announcement on Monday, February 20, 2023. Langston University will hold the Commencement on Saturday, May 6, 2023, at 10:00 a.m., in the W.E. Anderson Stadium.