(Photo by Rich Arden / ESPN Images)
One of ESPN’s most iconic personalities of all-time, Stuart Scott (1965-2015), a graduate of Northwest Forsyth (N.C.) Little League, will become the 62nd person to be enshrined in the Little League® Hall of Excellence. The ceremony is scheduled to take place on Sunday, August 27, prior to the Championship Game of the 2023 Little League Baseball® World Series, Presented by T-Mobile, with Mr. Scott’s daughters, Taelor and Sydni Scott, accepting the honor on their father’s behalf.
“The Little League Hall of Excellence shines a spotlight on the graduates of our program that have gone on to be role models for the millions of children who participate in our program in communities around the world,” said Steven P. Johnson, Little League International Board of Directors Chairman. “Throughout his career, Mr. Scott inspired countless children by captivating audiences through his SportsCenter broadcasts and iconic catchphrases. As his daughters Taelor and Sydni carry on his legacy as ambassadors for the V Foundation and in their professional careers, we are honored to welcome Mr. Scott to the Hall of Excellence.”
Mr. Scott was born in Chicago, Illinois, and he and his family moved to the Winston-Salem area of North Carolina, where he and his siblings quickly got into youth sports playing at Northwest Forsyth Little League. As a student-athlete at the University of North Carolina, he played wide receiver and defensive back for the football team and he started his broadcasting career on the college format radio station WXYC. After six years in local news, Mr. Scott made his ESPN debut on October 1, 1993, on ESPN2, the day the network launched.
As his popularity grew, with his iconic catchphrases, “Boo-Yah” and “As Cool as the Other Side of the Pillow,” Mr. Scott quickly became a fan-favorite at ESPN, leading to expanded roles at ESPN. With his true-to-self style, Mr. Scott was an inspiration to black journalists and sports fans around the world.
In 2007, Stuart Scott was diagnosed with appendiceal cancer. He beat it into remission twice before it ultimately took his life in January 2015. Just a few months earlier, Mr. Scott voiced yet another iconic, inspirational moment, while accepting the Jimmy V Award at the ESPY Awards: “When you die, it does not mean that you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you live, why you live, and in the manner in which you live.”
Stuart Scott, the late beloved ESPN sportscaster and a dedicated friend of the V Foundation, helped raise funds for the organization for 20+ years before passing away from cancer in 2015. Following his passing, the V Foundation and founding partner ESPN established the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund to express their commitment to health equity in his memory.
With ESPN’s help, the V Foundation has awarded over $16 million in grants from the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund. The groundbreaking cancer research initiative funds research focused on racial disparities in cancer outcomes as well as general cancer research lead by scientists from underrepresented groups.
His daughters, Taelor and Sydni, continue to honor their dad’s legacy, serving as ambassadors of the V Foundation.
“Thank you so much for honoring our father with this incredible consideration,” said Taelor and Sydni Scott. “We are galvanized and given hope by the work of the V Foundation on behalf of our dad‘s fund to fight disparities in cancer treatment and research. It is such an honor, as our dad was especially nurtured by his youth sports experiences.”
As the 62nd enshrinee in the Little League Hall of Excellence, Mr. Scott joins fellow Little League graduates Dick Vitale (2012), Todd Frazier (2022), Jenny Dalton-Hill (2022), Heather Tarr (2019), Rob Manfred (2018), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1992), Tom Selleck (1991), Tom Seaver (1988), and more.