Andrew George is not your ordinary Clevelander. He isn’t even your ordinary American.
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, George proudly and often represents the city’s teams. Something that even moving to six cities in six years couldn’t affect.
His love for his teams is just the beginning of George’s story. George faced many hardships growing up. Particularly those that come with moving a ton as a kid.
New city, new friends every year. On top of supporting his siblings’ ongoing health challenges, George found an outlet in sports and storytelling that brought him to ASU and will hopefully one day take him to the NBA.
These obstacles dared George to develop the social skills necessary to make new friends on the fly, something that has helped him on his journalistic journey.
“In retrospect, especially as I’ve gotten older, it’s really shaped how I am. I love people. I’m very extroverted, interpersonal, and sports were always one of the outlets for me.” George said.
From places like Sugarland, Phoenix, Tucson, and Los Angeles, each city was a notch on George’s belt, teaching him many of life’s lessons.
Through it all, George found comfort in Sports, particularly basketball, where, rumor has it, his bag of tricks is deep, as well as comedy. These things have helped build connections with the people he’s met along his journey throughout the country.
As time passed, George returned to Cleveland, where he would eventually stay until he graduated from high school.
As his love of basketball grew, so did his observation skills. Picking up on some of the inequities that don’t just plague basketball but all sports.
Worried about the direction basketball is going, particularly in the AAU, where money flies around, and sportsmanship is scant.
Still, his love for the game never wavered, and in fact, George had the opportunity of a lifetime to work not only for the NBA but for his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers.
“Basketball’s been a huge outlet for me. I ended up getting to work in it professionally when I worked with the Cavs,” George said. “I want to continue to tell stories through basketball while working with the NBA. Getting to bring different community programs, work with players and coaches, and see the impact that the sport can have, just letting people know that they’re not alone, that we belong to each other and to this fantastic community. Basketball is so important to that end.”
Through it all, his keen observation has highlighted not just inequities and community struggles, but, from a game standpoint, George feels the US is falling behind the rest of the world in basketball talent.
One thing that isn’t falling behind, however, is George’s focus in school. 2000 miles away from home and most of his family. George has come full circle, being back in Phoenix and living here when he was in sixth grade, now a graduate student. Unleashing his passion for storytelling, but also allowing himself to continue to grow and thrive.
Soon, George will be walking the stage in Tempe. Graduating not from college but from his previous life and onto the greener pastures, he has seeded himself.
I’m looking forward to working and, most importantly, to applying the multimedia elements that were new to me when I came to Cronkite,” George said. Pairing that with everything else I’ve learned in life, all my experience and personal passions and getting my career jump-started again.”
