By Jonathan Canas (@JonathanCanas_) – Spear Reporter
Marc J. Spears holding the William Randolph Hearst Award for excellence in journalism. | Titus Wilkinson – The Spear
SJSU’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications honored the class of ’95 graduate and distinguished NBA writer Marc J. Spears with the William Randolph Hearst Award for excellence in journalism at the Hammer Theater Center on Saturday.
Spears joins a distinguished line of Hearst Award honorees which includes CNN’s Jim Acosta and Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Spears joined ESPN in 2016 as a senior NBA writer for Andscape, a Black media platform dedicated to creating and highlighting uplifting stories of Black identity.
Saturday’s award ceremony was a full circle moment for Spears. It was held a block away from the halls he once walked and it came months after being named a 2023 recipient of the Naismith Hall of Fame Curt Gowdy Media Award. Spears spoke about his experiences at the Dallas Morning News and Tulsa World before eventually moving on to the NBA.
“It was really tough in the beginning. I wasn’t getting paid anything but I also didn’t deserve to get paid,” said Spears. “I wasn’t anybody and they were taking a chance on me and I had to earn my stripes.”
San Jose State President Cynthia Teniente-Matson was helped open up the ceremony by thanking Spears for his continuous support to SJSU and its students.
Bob Rucker, who’s been a Journalism and Mass Communications professor of over 30 years, spoke as well. Rucker served as a Spears’ mentor while he was in school.
“As a journalist the trick is to get people to keep talking to you and people aren’t afraid to talk to Spears. I was told they look forward to it,” Rucker said.
What followed next was a tribute video of established sports figures like Warriors head coach Steve Kerr and Marcus Thompson of The Athletic congratulating Spears on the Hearst Award.
When it was Spears’ time to talk, he spoke about diversity within sports journalism and his experiences from the past and present.
He highlighted his time with the Spartan Daily and his piece on a lack of Black coaches in NCAA basketball at the time, which cost him his spot on the SJSU basketball team.
At the time, Spears suggested that Black players should sit out to bring notice to the situation. SJSU’s coaching staff didn’t agree with his story and told him to stop asking players to boycott.
“I’ll do anything you guys ask me to do, but the one thing I won’t do is compromise my writing,” Spears said.
Spears was able to bring his mother and fellow SJSU alumni, Carolyn Spears, who gathered her thoughts on her very own full circle moment.
“I’m just delighted to be back in San Jose, I lived here for 30 something odd years so I’m really excited,” Carolyn said.