Paolo Uggetti, one of the nation’s most talented young sports journalists, has joined ESPN as a college football writer.
Uggetti has covered the NBA nationally for The Ringer for the past five years, writing features on everything from Devin Booker’s Mexican heritage to players’ mental health in the bubble, to tracking down the KIA that Blake Griffin dunked over in the 2011 dunk contest.
Uggetti also interned with The Wall Street Journal sports department, where he discovered the kinds of stories he loves to write — niche, sometimes quirky, but always human.
“After working on finding compelling stories in the NBA for a few seasons, I’m really looking forward to diving into the unique culture of college football alongside the team at ESPN,” said Uggetti. “The number of story opportunities in a sport that’s going through so much change is exciting, and I can’t wait to get a chance to tell some of those stories.”
ESPN college football deputy editor Ryan Canner-O’Mealy added: “We couldn’t be more excited to add Paolo to our talented team. His eye for interesting stories and history of in-depth reporting will make for a seamless transition into the world of college football.”
Uggetti is proudly from El Salvador but moved to Los Angeles when he was nine years old, falling in love with other sports besides fútbol. Uggetti is fluent in his native Spanish and graduated from USC in 2017. There, he covered the Trojans football team for two seasons and won two LA Press Club awards for stories he wrote for the student-run online publication.
