Jay Harris (sportscaster)

Jay Harris (born February 22, 1965, in Norfolk, Virginia) is an American journalist who has worked for ESPN since February 2003. Jay currently calls late night his home, seen primarily on the 11pm and midnight eastern editions of SportsCenter, and sometimes on the west coast Sportscenter from Los Angeles. Jay has hosted a variety of shows during his tenure at ESPN, including Sportscenter, Outside The Lines, NFL Live, Baseball Tonight, Cold Pizza, First Take, Friday Night Fights, and ESPN Sports Saturday on ABC.

Early life
Prior to ESPN, Harris worked for many years at WPGH-TV in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as a weeknight news anchor. He also has local morning radio news experience at WAMO-FM, and national news experience at American Urban Radio Networks, also in Pittsburgh. He also did local radio news at WOWI-FM in Norfolk, Virginia.

Accolades
Harris has several honors including: a Silver World Medal from the New York Festivals, a Robert L. Vann Award from the Pittsburgh Black Media Federation, an EXCEL Award from the Hampton Roads Black Media Professionals. He was also part of two Emmy Award-winning Sportscenter shows. Harris is a 1983 graduate of Chapel Hill High School in Chapel Hill, NC. A 1987 graduate of Old Dominion University, he received a Distinguished Alumni Award and served as the keynote speaker for its 100th commencement ceremony in 2003, and 2004, respectively.

Personal life
Harris is married to Stephanie Prigmore with 2 children. He is a member of the Nu Theta chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

On the February 22, 2008 episode of SportsCenter, Bill Walton presented Harris with a cake, to the surprise of Harris. Walton also noted that Harris shares the same birth date with famed basketball player Julius Erving.