Rece Davis

Sports journalist William Laurece "Rece" Davis was born Dec. 14, 1965 in Del Rio, Texas, the son of Jerry and Janice Davis. A 1988 graduate of the University of Alabama, he earned a bachelor's degree in both broadcast news and public affairs. During his student days he did freelance work as a play-by-play announcer, studio host and radio personality at a variety of media outlets across the state.

After leaving college he worked in several capacities at WRBL in Columbus, Ga., including sports reporter, lead weekend news anchor and sports director. But it was his tenure in Flint, Mich., at WJRT that brought him to the attention of ESPN executives. He joined ESPN in March of 1995, beginning with ESPN2's "SportSmash," where he offered 5-minute reports on sports scores and news.

He also served as a host of "RPM 2Night," "RPM 2Day" and "NBA 2Night" on ESPN2, and later became an anchor for "SportsCenter." He also contributed to the "Extra Point" report of "The Dan Patrick Show" on ESPN Radio. In 2015 Davis took over for Chris Fowler as host of the "College GameDay" football roadshow. The show garnered a Sports Emmy for best weekly studio show in each of his first two years as part of the broadcast.

In 2001 his alma mater named him an outstanding alumnus of the School of Communication and Information Sciences, and in 2008 he was awarded the CableFax award for Best Sports Host. Davis and his wife, Leigh, have two children.