John Saunders

Saunders hosted studio and play-by-play programming. He covered college football, basketball and the NHL for the network, in addition to anchoring SportsCenter. He was also host of The Sports Reporters. Born in Canada, Saunders was an all-star defenseman in the junior hockey leagues of Montreal. He played at Western Michigan and Ryerson Polytechnical in Toronto before becoming one of the most prominent broadcasters of his time. Saunders was a founding member of The V Foundation for Cancer Research and served on its board of directors. Saunders joined ESPN in December 1986 to anchor SportsCenter. He also became a regular voice on college basketball and the WNBA and hosted ESPN's coverage of the Stanley Cup playoffs from 1993 to 2004. He also worked on coverage of the World Series and Major League Baseball's All-Star Game. Saunders' survivors include his wife, Wanda, and daughters Aleah and Jenna.