Shannon Spake has covered a variety of sports for different networks but has fond memories of her time covering UK basketball. (FOXSports Photo)
Shannon Spake was a beloved ESPN reporter by Kentucky basketball fans when she covered the glory days of coach John Calipari’s tenure at UK.
“I swear I was in Lexington so much that I paid taxes in Lexington, especially during the 2014-15 season,” Spake joked.
That’s the season UK started 38-0 before losing to Wisconsin in the Final Four. Calipari gave Spake and ESPN more access than others and that enabled her to share stories about the program that Big Blue fans loved.
“It was such a special season and you could watch the pressure the players felt from being undefeated. Every single place that we went, there were lines wrapped around the building because everyone wanted to be the team that beat Kentucky,” Spake said. “Cal tried to take the pressure off them but they all wanted that undefeated season so bad.
“I was along for that great ride. I was totally invested and thought it would be a really cool story to see Kentucky win the championship. I think I saw my kids three days that whole month of March.”
“I am covering the NBA now and see players that are NBA veterans that were just those young boys playing at Kentucky. I worked the draft that year (2015) when all those kids went in the first round. It is so cool to see them all living out their dreams.”
Spake has a diverse sports background. She has worked for the Speed Channel (2005-2006), ESPN (2007-2016) FOX Sports (2016-2024), NASCAR Digital Media/TNT Sports (2024-present) and FanDuel Sports Network Southeast (2024-present). She has covered college basketball, NFL, college football, NBA and NASCAR. She even had a role as “Shannon Spokes” in the 2017 Pixar film “Cars 3.”
She launched “Spake Up Podcast” in June and her guests have included Andy Katz, Kurt Busch, Mark Martin, Toni Breidinger and Brad Nessler. She also had Savannah Bananas fan-favorite Reese “Superman” Alexiades on one podcast as well as Roderick Sewell, the first above-the-knee amputee to compete in the Ironman World Championships.
“When my deal with FOX fell apart, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. The podcast was not something I was used to doing. I was a little nervous that you can say stuff with the best intentions and people will still take in the wrong way,” Spake said. “I am not an offensive person. I grew up in the 90’s and worried I might say something wrong.
“I had all those fears but the podcast has been great. I have met so many people in my different jobs and so many have really cool stories. People tell me I should write a book but this podcast is my book. I probably do more research than I should but doing a podcast was scary. I spent my life as a television reporter. When I started at ESPN, you didn’t give opinions. You used quotes and facts. I learned a little bit later in life how to make stories out of those quotes instead of just quoting folks.”
She has big plans for the podcast and has confirmed that Calipari, now the coach at Arkansas, will join her Oct. 21 with the podcast posted on Oct. 23. Kansas coach Bill Self will also be a future guest.
“I will reach out to Big Blue Nation and see what they want to know from Cal. I would love to know what it was really like when he went back to Rupp (Arena and won with Arkansas last season). That had to be an emotional experience,” she said. “I have always wanted to know his recruiting pitch if he came to recruit my son and how has that changed with NIL.”
Spake, a former NASCAR pit reporter, now covers the Charlotte Hornets for FanDuel Sports.
“The job opened up after I found out I was not going back to FOX and it has been a great experience. It’s almost like being on tour with a rock band when you travel with a NBA team,” Spake said.
She also got to work five NASCAR races for TNT this summer. She interviews the NASCAR race winner each Monday for the NASCAR YouTube Channel.
“I never want to lose that relationship with NASCAR,” she said.
Spake also doesn’t want to lose the relationships she built with coaches like Calipari and fans like those at Kentucky. She told legendary TV announcer Nessler during the podcast that she believes Calipari and UK changed college basketball.
“I think 2012 when we saw Kentucky do what they did to 2016 changed things. That is when the one-and-dones started to happen,” she said. “Kentucky had a huge impact on college basketball under Calipari. There is something unique about Kentucky fans and I got to see and understand that.”
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You can subscribe to the Spake Up Podcast on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@shannonspakeTV). It is also available on Apple podcasts and Spotify. She also promotes the podcast and provides links on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter).
2 Responses
Glad she's doing well and understand what's Kentucky basketball is all about. She's right about that Cal changed the landscape of college basketball during Cals early years at UK. But I really think the change hurt him more that the game change in his last 5 years he coach at UK and he wouldn't change his style of coaching to the changing game itself.
Shannon Spake is best of the best