Once a student and writer for the Evanstonian struggling to submit assignments on time, now Cassidy Hubbarth is an ESPN Sports reporter who currently hosts ESPN2’s NBA Tonight and ESPN’s SportsCenter.

Hubbarth began her writing career at the Evanstonian. “It was my first real taste of journalism and how I was able to get over my shyness. It also made me confident in my writing and really helped me decide what I wanted to do in life,” Hubbarth says.

Hubbarth’s high school experience prepared her for her career as a sports reporter in more ways than one. Not only was she a 2002 ETHS soccer champion and participant in two other high school sports, she was also an Evanstonian sports editor, learning about how to cover sports in a professional way. “It was my first introduction on what it takes and his class sparked my interest in journalism,” Hubbarth says.

She graduated from ETHS in 2003 and went on to earn her Bachelor of Science degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University after spending a year studying at the University of Illinois.

While the Evanstonian helped prepare her for her career, there are many differences between what she does now and her role as an Evanstonian sports editor. “Now being that this is my career, there are consequences and things I am expected to do like be professional. I can’t be careless,” Hubbarth says.

She didn’t start off as a big time sports news host and reporter, she started off as a traffic reporter for WMAQ. When Hubbarth started her career at ESPN in 2010, she was the host for college football and basketball, where she hosted the Madden Bowl, the Baylor Pro Day and Georgia Pro Day on ESPN3.

Hubbarth is a very hardworking woman, from the time she had in high school to now being an ESPN reporter. ETHS is filled with talented people who move on to do great things with their life, and this is just one of many examples.