Audio Story | Mackenzie Engram

Script:

VO: Recently I had the opportunity to sit down and talk with Georgia and Lady Dawg alum Mackenzie Engram about the path to her developing career in broadcast and how her experiences as a basketball player influenced her aspirations. Mackenzie was a Lady Dawg coached under Joni Taylor as well as a Grady student who graduated with a journalism degree in 2018. In the women’s basketball locker room, I got the chance to be a part of the last four years of her life as she told me her story, starting with her first plans for her future.

ME: Honestly, I wanted to be a nurse. My mom was a nurse, and so I kinda wanted to take after her and I felt like I’m supposed to help people and I wanted to do it in that way, but we don’t have a nursing school program. So then I was like, “Okay, what else can I do that I’m passionate about and good at?” And I know I’ve never had an issue with a camera, like being on camera or talking in front of groups, like I’m not shy. So my mom was like, “Why don’t you think about sports broadcasting?” And then I was like, “Hm, you know, that’s a good idea,” so that’s where that came from. But that wasn’t until maybe junior year of high school when I found out UGA doesn’t have a nursing program. Then once I came here on unofficial, they took me over to Grady and I saw it and Grady’s big name and everyone that’s come out of there. I was like, “Okay, this is what I’ll do.” So from there it was sports broadcasting and nothing else.

VO: From a young age, Mackenzie became comfortable with a camera on her as her mom would record her and her brother for home videos, foreshadowing a successful career in broadcast journalism. In college, she took that affinity for videography to a different level with the basketball team with the help of the team’s current sports information director, Mike Mobley.

ME: Growing up, my mom documented everything. So there was always a camera on so it was like I was able to get that experience early on. So that way later on in life I wasn’t ever [shy]. Our freshman year, he knew what i wanted to do so he started these segments for me where every away trip he would give me a little flip-cam and I would just film us on the away trips like, “Alright guys, we’re going to Arkansas, blah blah blah.” So he kind of got me started with that just so I could have stuff for my real later on because I didn’t understand how important that was. So he was like, “You want to start now, so we’re just gonna do this, have a main thing in each episode.” So like, one episode was “What stuffed animal do you bring?” So that was kind of like the core of that.

VO: But video recaps and fun features on her team weren’t the end to her videographer career. Mackenzie started a youtube channel after graduation as a way to document her travels overseas playing in Israel.

ME: I was like, “You know what, I’m just gonna start a YouTube channel one day.” Wanted to start one in college but I was like, “Hm, I’m a little nervous, my friends and teammates are gonna judge me and make fun of me. If I could be a professional YouTuber, I would love to do it. And start something, vlog about it so I have the experience later on in life. So that’s kind of where that started, was with more of my obsession with other couples, and it was like, “Hm, I just need one video to go viral.

VO: After Mackenzie returned home to the States, she got involved again with her old team and tried her hand at her first broadcasting experience.

ME: Before the SEC tournament, I did Arkansas, when Georgia played Arkansas. So that was cool, and that was I kind of worked with them and got paid for that. And I discovered there that I like sideline reporting more than doing colors, so hopefully once I figure out [sic], I’m now in this pickle of do I want to do broadcasting or do coaching. I just was talking to Joni [Taylor] about where do I go from here. But hopefully everything will work out.

VO:Working on the Arkansas game moved her to get involved with the SEC for the women’s basketball tournament, where she volunteered to do sideline reporting.

A fellow UGA alum has inspired Mackenzie through her path to broadcast journalism, one that serves as both a role model and an outlet for friendly advice and help.

ME: Definitely Maria Taylor, hands down. And she’s just a good role model too because she gives back to us. It’s not like She’s never gotten too big to still invest in me, like if I text her it might take her a while just because she’s super busy but she always gets back to me.

VO: Besides Maria, Mackenzie takes influence a little closer to home in the form of her older brother and NY Giants tight end Evan Engram, who she one day wants to collaborate on a show with.

ME: He’s probably the main person that really wants me to blow up in the sports broadcasting world. And he’s very supportive now, like he’s put me in contact with so many people and I’m actually even looking to do an internship with [the Giants] this summer. So he’s in charge of getting me people’s numbers and I’ll email them and reach out. But he’s been very supportive. He knows I can really do it. And now that I’m kind of tossing back and forth coaching he’s like, “No, you’ve got to do sports broadcasting,” because eventually when he retires we want to have a show.

VO: Going forward, Mackenzie is hoping to land a position with SEC plus for the upcoming basketball season.

ME: I need to realize that it’s not gonna be that easy if I am trying to just start off with the SEC Network, even if it’s just an SEC Plus game. And next fall though, next basketball season, the guy that runs SEC Network Plus here said that he would love for me to be on air. But that’s in fall, and so I’m hoping to have a job by October. I will have a job by October. Not hoping, I will.

VO: My name is Sydney Kohne, and this is with Grady Sports.