September 17, 2026 – Sixteen years ago, Ashley ShahAhmadi walked into the classrooms of Kell High School as a student with big dreams of becoming an NBA sideline reporter. Recently, she walked into Kell classrooms again, this time as a former student who has realized her dreams, wanting to inspire current students to pursue their own.
“I'm so excited for you guys because this is truly just the beginning for all of you,” she told the Audio-Video Technology and Film (AVTF) class scattered throughout the Media Center. “If you're in this class and you're working towards a career in video production, or being on-camera, or editing, you're starting in the right place. It's so good to be able to start young, because that's how you get to where you want to go.”
Where ShahAhmadi has gone is the national stage. She is a sideline reporter, gathering interviews and spouting facts on various sports broadcasts for NBC Sports. She has held the microphone and informed fans for many of the major networks, covering SEC football for ESPN, the NBA for Turner Sports, and the MLB for Bally Sports. In the coming weeks, she will be on the sidelines of Big 10 college football games, in the dugouts of an MLB Wild Card Series, then back on the courts for the WNBA Playoffs. All of this will lead straight into reporting for the NBA regular season.
With that hectic broadcast schedule ahead of her, the Class of 2010 graduate took the time to visit with Kell’s AVTF class.
“I truly wish I would have taken more advantage of some of the opportunities while I was in high school,” the University of Georgia journalism grad said. “It wasn't until senior year that I got a little bit more involved with video productions, but there was a lot of opportunity before that.”
ShahAhmadi was a student-athlete during her high school years, playing basketball for former Kell athletic director Richard Norman.
“I had the pleasure of coaching her in basketball one year,” Coach Norman recalled. “She was dedicated, worked hard in practice and games, day in and day out. You could see then that she was going to have some type of major career just from her drive and ambition.”
Her ambition from the time she was 10 years old was to become an on-air talent who connected with basketball fans about the sport they loved. Still, it’s hard for her to comprehend that she would end up back here, inspiring students at her alma mater.
“I kind of have chills,” ShahAhmadi said with a smile. “I'm thinking about high school Ash and what she would say if she knew she'd be coming back to talk to students and to walk these hallways and just be at a place that shaped me. I have goosebumps a little bit.”
Kell’s AVTF teacher, Ed Cook, who is in his third year at the school, felt a similar bit of excitement because of what his students were getting to experience. His instruction has helped garner back-to-back Student Emmys at the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) Student Production Awards in 2025 and 2026. For him, having a successful former Longhorn in the media field return to talk to his class is a lesson his students should always remember.
“The exposure for my students is huge,” Mr. Cook beamed. “Ashley told some great stories, but it’s about our students seeing someone who has had success. I talk about professions like hers all the time. The students actually seeing a person, specifically a graduate, with her success, it's probably one of the most amazing things ever. For me, too.”
One of Mr. Cook’s students and a Cobb Sports intern, Kell senior Amelia Hussong, had the opportunity to interview ShahAhmadi after class.
“It was just so amazing to hear her perspective on being an analyst and broadcaster in her career now,” Amelia emphasized. “I know I want to be in the career that she is in now, so she's very inspiring. To hear from a female in a male-dominated field shows me that I can achieve the same success that she has had with hard work.”
ShahAhmadi graciously took photos with students and staff, accepted Longhorns-logoed gifts, and answered questions through the class bell. Her trip will not be soon forgotten—by her or by the Kell students.
n/t non-branded photos provided by Ashley ShahAhmadi
