CBS Sports’ Allie LaForce is speaker for commencement at alma mater, Ohio U.

Ohio University alum and CBS Sports personality Allie LaForce will give Ohio University's commencement speech May 5.

The 2011 magna cum laude graduate earned her bachelor's in broadcast journalism from the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism.

"It's truly an honor to be given the opportunity to visit Ohio and speak to this year's graduating class," LaForce said in a prepared statement. "I can't wait to return to where it all started and share this once-in-a-lifetime experience with family, friends and colleagues."

The Emmy-nominated reporter is an anchor for CBS Sports and Turner Sports. She is widely recognized for her work as a sideline reporter for the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship.

In January 2016, LaForce began working as a women's college basketball analyst for the CBS Sports Network. She also is a sideline reporter for the NBA on TNT.

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In 2014, LaForce joined CBS Sports' "We Need to Talk," television's first sports show hosted by women. She is a host and panelist for the groundbreaking show, an accomplishment she considers a crowning achievement.

"Allie LaForce has quickly become one of the most respected and recognizable personalities in sports. More importantly, her professional path serves as a shining example for women looking to break barriers within the broadcast industry," OU President M. Duane Nellis said.

LaForce has been CBS Sports' lead college football reporter for the "SEC Game of the Week" the past five years.

She joined CBS Sports in October 2012 as a co-host for the nightly sports show "Leadoff," and as a reporter for the network's college basketball and football coverage.

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Prior to joining CBS Sports, she was an anchor and reporter for Fox 8 News in Cleveland. LaForce also served as a sports anchor and host of the channel's Emmy Award-winning football show, "Friday Night Touchdown."

LaForce got her start in broadcasting as a women's college basketball analyst for OU's flagship radio station, WOUB-FM. From 2010-11, she was a sideline reporter at SportsTime Ohio's coverage of Mid-American Conference football and the MAC men's basketball tournament.

OU's undergraduate commencement ceremonies will be 9:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Convocation Center in Athens.

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