NBC Sports’ Zora Stephenson on Notre Dame football, women’s basketball

On November 24, 2024By Littum

SOUTH BEND — Notre Dame fans know Zora Stephenson primarily for her work as NBC’s sideline reporter at Irish home soccer games, a role she has held for the past three seasons.

However, it is basketball that touches her soul.

A former team captain at Elon University in North Carolina, where she played shooting guard for four seasons, the 2015 graduate has play-by-play assignments for Saturday’s top-five women’s basketball showdown between Notre Dame and USC (4 p.m., NBC).

“Basketball is my passion and my love language, so I’m really excited to be on the call for this one,” Stephenson said this week in a phone interview with the South Bend Tribune. “Obviously, I’m still very involved in the sport. I play pickup here and there. It’s in my blood.”

Stephenson, a sideline reporter for the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks, has handled fill-in play-by-play for several Bucks games as well as summer calls of the WNBA champion New York Liberty on regional television.

However, it’s Notre Dame football and women’s basketball that keep Stephenson busy this time of year.

“South Bend, especially in the fall, is like my second home,” she said. “Notre Dame is a special place and it’s just an honor to cover both programs.”

With NBC’s stacked college sports Saturday, including No. 19 Army’s Yankee Stadium meeting with the sixth-ranked Irish (7 p.m.), Stephenson discussed a range of topics in a 20-minute conversation from his home base in Durham, NC

The following has been lightly edited for length and clarity:

At Notre Dame-USC:

“It’s the best of women’s college basketball right now. You have a top-10 matchup early in the season, so a good barometer for both teams. It’s not the last, but it’s a real treat for us fans. I mean, you want to talk about star power.For USC, it’s JuJu Watkins, preseason player of the year, the most points by a freshman ever, and she has a great crew with her.

“And then you have Notre Dame, a team coming off back-to-back multiple Sweet 16 appearances. Hannah Hidalgo, the breakout freshman, is now a super sophomore. She led the nation in steals a year ago, she was the ACC Defensive Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year. She deserved all those awards and now she’s joined by Olivia Miles.”

On the return of Olivia Miles:

“I just talked to Olivia Miles and she said it was more than 600 days without playing a college basketball game. Imagine, more than 600 days and her first game back, she had a triple-double. She looked like she hadn’t missed a beat last february so she’s been able to play pickup it’s going to be exciting to see but they is unfortunately used to adversity. We’ll see how this matchup goes. It’s kind of a guard-heavy team. It’s going to be fun, and if you like to score, turn on your TV 16 Eastern on Saturday.”

On the challenge of the Hidalgo-Miles dynamics:

“It’s hard to think of a direct comparison because they’re really two true point guards. But you go to the WNBA and the Seattle Storm, you’ve got Jewell Loyd and Skylar Diggins-Smith, two combo guards who can both bring it up .(Irish coach) Niele Ivey told me she studied Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic with the Dallas Mavericks to try to figure out how to best use Olivia Miles and Hannah Hildalgo. It’s a unique combination, but it’s worked until further.”

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On how Notre Dame can defend Watkins:

“Hannah is the best defender. She’s the ACC Defensive Player of the Year a season ago, but she’s small; she’ll tell you that. JuJu is 6-plus feet. You go put pressure on the ball with Hannah and try to face her at the point of attack, or do you go with a little more size and put Sonia Citron on her? Or, a lot of times, when you have a phenomenal player like JuJu, you have to mix up the defense. You (can’t) just put one person on her. I’ll be interested to see which way Coach Ivey goes, but I’m sure it will involve some sort of arrangement. I’m sure (Watkins will) see more players come after her at some point.”

On the growth of women’s basketball:

“I always tell people, ‘Welcome to the party.’ Someone like me who grew up watching the game, it’s always been great. But we’re so excited that so many new fans are discovering how much fun this game can be be, and the talent that women have on the basketball court. That’s exactly what you want to see. It’s an exciting time to cover women’s basketball also being a woman’s basketball fan. The talent backs up all the hype.”

On the biggest crowd she played before at Elon:

“That’s a good question. Got the chance to play in South Carolina, at Vanderbilt. It’s interesting. Nothing crazy stands out. … I’ve definitely covered way bigger audiences than I’ve ever played in. That’s why I getting so emotional. I’ll never forget the night Caitlin Clark broke the women’s scoring record. Meghan McKeown was at the call for that one. I was emotional because I never got to play in one.” arena that was full. And to experience that, this is what the game should be. I’m so happy for all the players today.”

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On Ivey and Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman:

“I have so much respect for both of them: the way they carry themselves, the passion, but also the compassion they have for the players they work with. They don’t just see them as athletes who can do things on a field or on a track, but as people who have other things going on. Whenever you talk to Niele Ivey’s players, they always speak so highly of her. She’s been so kind to me, and the same with Marcus Freeman. And it’s not just after a win. This is also after a loss. They want to talk to me when I need to.”

On asking the tough questions of NBC’s broadcast partners at Notre Dame:

“This is where the relationships come in. Hopefully the coaches will respect the questions you ask. I feel good in those positions. Before I was a sports journalist, I was in local news, covering everything from natural disasters to crime to politics. Unfortunately, I was in people’s living rooms on the worst days of their lives. I’ve had to hold people power accountable, so in terms of asking the tough questions, a loss after a sporting event doesn’t even come close to some of the situations that I’ve covered. My biggest thing is that you don’t always have to like me, but my goal is that you respect me and respect my role. I have felt that from both coach Ivey and coach Freeman.”

On the differences between pregame, halftime and postgame interviews with Freeman:

“What a great question. Kudos to coach Freeman. His demeanor is the same with me in all three interactions. Even halftime he can chew out the refs and then he sees me and it’s almost like he switches to a switch, and he is super nice and answers the questions i have i don’t know how he does it.

“For me, it’s looking ahead in that pre-kickoff (interview). I use nuggets from the meetings we’ve had. I know the themes he’s used and the messages he’s used with his team all week. So I just want to make sure he relays them to the audience I ask questions that will get answers out of him that will detail the game plan.

“At halftime, it’s reactionary. I know what the goal was. Before the last game, it was, ‘Hey, we’re going to be physical against (Virginia).’ So at halftime it’s like, ‘Hey, did you play with the physicality you wanted?’ And he reacts to that, but often there are things that happen during the first half that I have to ask about.

“And then postgame, it goes back to those themes and messages for the week, but then adds a nugget about a player. It was Senior Day; the seniors balled out. Xavier Watts gets an interception, Jack Kiser gets a sack, Mitchell Evans gets a touchdown . It was perfect. Combination of background knowledge and of course things that happened in the game, but he’s great in all three circumstances.”

On whether Freeman was ever sharp with Stephenson:

“I haven’t had any of those with Coach Freeman. I’ve covered a lot of different head coaches. Sometimes that happens in the NBA, and you don’t necessarily get the excuse afterward either. You just go about your day. He’s never been short with me.”

On survival tips for sideline interviewers:

“It’s being adaptable and trusting your presence, especially your questions. Reacting to what the coach says. Maybe I go in with three questions I think I’ll ask, but then he says something that needs a follow-up .It’s up to you as a sideline reporter. And then my hits sprinkled over the game is to humanize the players that are under those helmets. Who are they, what motivates them in order that they got on that field at all? Just so you have a reason to root for them on both sides. That’s how I approach my role. And so observations that people at home can’t see, whether it’s a passionate huddle or someone is figuring out an injury, whatever it is. Bring the game to you when you’re sitting at home.”

On sharing injury information during a Notre Dame football telecast:

“It’s team by team. Some teams report injuries, others just say I can only report sightings. It depends on the team. Most of the time in college football, there’s no reporting system that’s required, so it’s more to tell you how long someone was in the tent, is a certain body part wrapped, do they test something, how do they test it and how do they get a lot of attention from the medical staff?

On how injury reports may change as sports betting becomes more widespread:

“The pro level has injury reporting guidelines, whether it’s the NBA or the NFL. I think about the college level because it’s young people and they’re student-athletes and I know that period has depth now at because of NIL, but at the end of the day, they’re still young people, and that’s it, is on the cutting edge. That’s where the protection comes from.”

On her connection to former Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman:

(Hartman’s adopted brother, former Elon wide receiver Demitri Allison, died by suicide at age 21 in November 2015.)

“The Elon community is super close. (Allison) was a little younger than me, but I had a close friend who was actually dating him at the time. It was just so sad all around. Elon means so much to me and everyone, going there. I was well aware of the situation when it happened. I had graduated at the time, but I know that year they had wings and his number 10 and many of the footballers who played with him are the motto ‘Fly high, 10’. Sam and I have been rooting for Phoenix to this day. It will always be family to him.”

Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.