BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Board of Directors of the State of Alabama Sports Hall of Fame is proud to announce that Rece Davis will be recognized as the 2026 Distinguished Alabama Sportsman at the State of Alabama Sports Hall of Fame 58th Annual Induction Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, May 9, 2026.
Rece Davis, one of the sports industry’s preeminent hosts and a mainstay on ESPN for more than 25 years, is the host of ESPN’s Emmy Award-winning College GameDay Built by The Home Depot. He is also a host for premier college football events including the College Football Playoff National Championship and the NFL Draft on ABC, in addition to select play-by-play assignments for college football and basketball. A regular contributor to SportsCenter and other ESPN shows and platforms, Davis also serves as the host of the College Football Playoff Top 25 Rankings Show. During the basketball season, Davis is the host of College GameDay Covered by State Farm, a role he has occupied since the show debuted in 2005. He anchors coverage from the annual State Farm Champions Classic and NCAA Men’s Final Four, and he has also served as host of the NBA Draft on ESPN for more than a decade.
Davis, a native of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, graduated cum laude from the University of Alabama in 1988 with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the school of communications in news and public affairs. Davis was named the University of Alabama School of Communication Broadcast Department’s outstanding alumnus for 2001. In 2019, Davis was inducted into the University of Alabama College of Communication and Information Sciences Hall of Fame.
Davis joins an impressive list of others who have been honored as Alabama Sports Hall of Fame Distinguished American Sportsmen. They are: Bob Hope (1988), Hugh Culverhouse (1991), Former President George H.W. Bush (1992), Charles O. Finley (1993), Larry D. Striplin, Jr. (1998), Bill Ireland (2000), Roy Kramer (2003), Jim Wilson, Jr. (2005), Michael E. Stephens (2006), Joseph Gibbs (2008), Nick Bollettieri (2009), Rick Woodward (2010), Don Logan (2011), Ron Froehlich (2015), Mike Slive (2015), Edgar Welden (2016), Pete Derzis (2017), Jimmy Rane (2018), Daniel Moore (2019), Robbie Robertson (2020), Angus R. Cooper II (2021), John McMahon, Jr. (2021), Gene Hallman (2022), Bob Barrett (2023), Mark Womack (2023), and Jeff Underwood (2025).
The 58th Annual Induction Banquet and Ceremony will be held in the Birmingham Ballroom, at the Sheraton Birmingham Hotel, on Saturday, May 9, 2026. For more information or to purchase tickets, please contact the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame Museum at (205) 323-6665.
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