{{Short description|American sports reporter}} {{for|the Australian poet and musician|Kate Fagan (poet)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2023}} {{Infobox person | name = Kate Fagan | image = Kate Fagan at LA Times Festival of Books 2025 (cropped).jpg | caption = Fagan in 2025 | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1981|11|15}} | birth_place = Warwick, Rhode Island, U.S. | education = University of Colorado Boulder | occupation = Sports journalist | spouse = {{marriage|Kathryn Budig|2018}} | website = {{url|bykatefagan.com}} }}
'''Kathleen Elizabeth Fagan''' (born November 15, 1981)<ref name="Colorado Buffaloes bio">{{cite web|url=http://www.cubuffs.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=5251|title=Kate Fagan|publisher=Colorado Buffaloes|access-date=November 21, 2016|date=2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.big12sports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10410&ATCLID=1518971|title= Buffaloes' Kathleen Elizabeth Fagan Journal|author=Fagan, Kate|publisher=Big 12 Conference|date=August 28, 2003|access-date=November 21, 2016}}</ref> is an American sports reporter, commentator, and novelist.
She previously was employed by ESPN. Before joining the ESPN staff, she worked as the ''Philadelphia Inquirer's'' beat writer for the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers.
==Early life==
Fagan was born in Warwick, Rhode Island. Fagan's father played professional basketball in Europe before later opening a financial investment company. Her mother worked as a sales representative for McGraw-Hill. She attended Niskayuna High School in Niskayuna, New York, where she became the school's all-time leading scorer in basketball.
Fagan attended the University of Colorado at Boulder where she lettered in basketball. After suffering a foot injury as a freshman, she rebounded to be among the team's best shooters and scorers. She set a Big 12 Conference record by making 44 consecutive free throws during the 2002-03 season and was a perennial First-Team Academic Big 12 performer.<ref name="Colorado Buffaloes bio"/> In 2004, Fagan graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a Bachelor of Science in Communication.<ref name="espnmediazone.com">{{Cite web |url=http://espnmediazone.com/us/bios/kate-fagan// |title=Kate Fagan - ESPN MediaZone |access-date=March 25, 2016 |archive-date=April 21, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160421195009/http://espnmediazone.com/us/bios/kate-fagan/ }}</ref> She also played two seasons with the Colorado Chill of the National Women's Basketball League (NWBL).<ref>{{cite news |author=Kate Fagan |url=https://www.espn.com/espnw/news-commentary/story/_/id/10856991/excerpt-reappearing-act-kate-fagan-espnw |title=Book excerpt: 'The Reappearing Act' |work=ESPN | date=April 29, 2014 | access-date=June 30, 2016}}</ref> === University of Colorado statistics === Sources<ref>{{Cite web |title=NCAA statistics |url=https://web1.ncaa.org/stats/StatsSrv/careerplayer |access-date=2023-10-08 |website=web1.ncaa.org}}</ref>{{NBA player statistics legend}} {| class="wikitable" ! Year ! Team ! GP ! Points ! FG% ! 3P% ! FT% ! RPG ! APG ! SPG ! BPG ! PPG |- |1999-00 |Colorado |5 |15 |28.6% |14.3% |100.0% |1.4 |0.8 |0.4 | - |3.0 |- |2000-01 |Colorado |20 |51 |32.7% |25.0% |87.5% |0.4 |0.4 |0.4 | - |2.6 |- |2001-02 |Colorado |'''34''' |172 |'''45.8%''' |'''47.6%''' |62.2% |1.0 |1.1 |0.8 | - |5.1 |- |2002-03 |Colorado |32 |348 |39.7% |38.7% |95.4% |3.0 |1.6 |0.8 |0.1 |10.9 |- |2003-04 |Colorado |30 |'''384''' |42.0% |42.9% |88.7% |'''3.3''' |2.8 |'''1.2''' |'''0.1''' |'''12.8''' |- |Career | |121 |970 |40.9% | |86.1% |2.0 |1.5 |0.8 |0.1 |8.0 |}
==Career== In 2006, Fagan began her professional career as a sports editor for the ''Ellensburg Daily Record''; the following year she moved to the ''Glens Falls Post-Star'' as a sportswriter.<ref name="ContempAuthors">"Kate Fagan." ''Contemporary Authors Online''. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 2015. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, May 4, 2017.</ref><ref name="espnmediazone.com"/> Later, from 2008 to 2011, she was on the staff of the ''Philadelphia Inquirer'',<ref name="ContempAuthors"/> where she was the Philadelphia 76ers beat writer.
As an ESPN writer beginning in 2012,<ref name="ContempAuthors"/> Fagan also made regular TV appearances on ''Around the Horn'' and ''First Take''. As of January 18, 2018, Fagan had 36 wins on ''Around the Horn'' She co-hosted ''The Trifecta with Spain, Jane and Kate'' with Sarah Spain and Jane McManus on espnW and ''Will and Kate'' with Will Cain on ESPN Radio. Fagan's piece "Owning the Middle", a profile of basketball player Brittney Griner for ESPN The Magazine,<ref>Fagan, Kate (May 29, 2013). "[http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/9316697/owning-middle Owning the Middle]". ''ESPN The Magazine''. Retrieved May 5, 2017.</ref> was selected for inclusion in Glenn Stout's "Notable Sports Writing of 2013".<ref>Stout, Glenn, "Notable Sports Writing of 2013", in: Christopher McDougal (Ed.), ''The Best American Sports Writing 2014''. Series, ''Best American Sports Writing'', edited by Stout. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014. p. 385.</ref><ref>"Kate Fagan." ''Contemporary Authors Online''. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 2015. Retrieved May 5, 2017. The Gale author profile mistakenly implies that Fagan has work included in the 2013 anthology; however, "Notable Sports Writing" is a separate annual list included in the following year's anthology.</ref> In May 2017, Fagan started a podcast on ESPN called ''Free Cookies'', which she co-hosted with her partner, yoga instructor Kathryn Budig. Fagan left ESPN at the end of 2018.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bucholtz |first1=Andrew |title=Kate Fagan declines extension and leaves ESPN, perhaps another sign of their coverage shifting towards on-field stories |url=https://awfulannouncing.com/espn/kate-fagan-leaves-espn-coverage-shifting.html |website=awfulannouncing.com |date=November 19, 2018 |publisher=Awful Announcing |access-date=October 9, 2019}}</ref>
Fagan is a regular on the 538 podcast ''Hot Takedown''.<ref name=HotTakedown>{{Cite web|url=https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/introducing-hot-takedown-fivethirtyeights-first-podcast/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180107021111/https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/introducing-hot-takedown-fivethirtyeights-first-podcast/|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 7, 2018|title=Introducing Hot Takedown, FiveThirtyEight's First Podcast|date=March 16, 2015}}</ref> Fagan is a lesbian and she married her wife Kathryn Budig in 2018.
== Works == In 2014, Fagan authored ''The Reappearing Act: Coming Out as Gay on a College Basketball Team Led by Born-Again Christians'' through Skyhorse Publishing.<ref name="Skyhorse">{{Cite web|url=http://skyhorsepublishing.com/titles/1389-9781629142050-reappearing-act|title = Search Results}}</ref> The memoir chronicles Fagan's experiences on the Colorado women's basketball team.
Her second book, ''What Made Maddy Run,'' about Madison Holleran, a University of Pennsylvania track and field athlete who took her own life in 2014, was released on August 1, 2017.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.espn.com/espnw/culture/article/20175159/exclusive-book-excerpt-made-maddy-run-kate-fagan|title=Exclusive book excerpt – 'What Made Maddy Run' by Kate Fagan|work=espnW|access-date=December 10, 2017}}</ref> Her book delves into the pressure young women face in regards to social media, specifically Instagram. She brings to light the disparities between Holleran's depressive reality, and the fun and filtered photos that she posted on Instagram.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/12833146/instagram-account-university-pennsylvania-runner-showed-only-part-story|title=From The Mag: Penn runner's depression masked on social media|work=ESPN.com|access-date=December 10, 2017}}</ref>
Her novel, ''The Three Lives of Cate Kay'', debuted on January 7, 2025.<ref name="l900">{{cite web |last=LaCour |first=Nina |date=2025-01-01 |title=Book Review: ‘The Three Lives of Cate Kay,’ by Kate Fagan |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/01/books/review/the-three-lives-of-cate-kay-kate-fagan.html |access-date=2025-02-26 |website=The New York Times}}</ref><ref name="s957">{{cite web |last=Fagan |first=Kate |date=2025-01-07 |title=THE THREE LIVES OF CATE KAY |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/kate-fagan/the-three-lives-of-cate-kay/ |access-date=2025-02-26 |website=Kirkus Reviews}}</ref> It was chosen as Reese's Book Club's January 2025 pick.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-01-08 |title=Reese Witherspoon reveals first Book Club pick for 2025 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/extras/indybest/books/fiction-books/reese-witherspoon-book-club-january-2025-b2675655.html |access-date=2025-01-20 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://twitter.com/katefagan3?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^author Kate Fagan on Twitter] *[http://www.bykatefagan.com/ Kate Fagan (official)]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fagan, Kate}} Category:1981 births Category:Living people Category:American sports radio personalities Category:American lesbian sportswomen Category:American lesbian writers Category:Basketball players from Rhode Island Category:Guards (basketball) Category:Colorado Buffaloes women's basketball players Category:LGBTQ basketball players Category:American LGBTQ broadcasters Category:People from Warwick, Rhode Island Category:University of Colorado Boulder alumni Category:LGBTQ people from Rhode Island Category:American women's basketball players Category:American women sportswriters Category:Sportswriters from Rhode Island Category:National Women's Basketball League players Category:21st-century American women