Ramona Shelburne

Ramona Leor Shelburne (born July 19, 1979) is an American sportswriter and NBA Insider for ESPN. She is also a former softball player; in high school, she was the 1997 L.A. City Softball Co-Player of the Year, and in college she played outfield for Stanford Cardinal for four years.

Early life

Shelburne is the daughter of James and Jeanette Shelburne, and is Jewish. ^[1][2][3] She grew up in the West Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles.^[1]

She graduated from El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills in 1997.^[4] There, she was a four-time All-City Selection in softball, four-time member of Los Angeles Times All-Area team, and the 1997 L.A. City Softball Co-Player of the Year.^[1] Academically, she was a National Merit Finalist, valedictorian, student body President, and graduated with a 4.21 GPA.^[1]

Shelburne received a softball scholarship and earned her bachelor's degree in American Studies and master's degree in Communication from Stanford University.^[5][6] At Stanford from 1998 to 2001, Shelburne was a three-time Academic All-American athlete in softball, and made appearances in both the NCAA tournament in the 1998 season and the Women's College World Series in the 2001 season.^[4][5] She played outfield for Stanford Cardinal for four years, and as a sophomore in 1999 she was selected to the academic All-Pac-10 second team.^[1] Shelburne was softball teammates with ESPN baseball analyst Jessica Mendoza at Stanford.^[5]

In 1997, Shelburne submitted her first article on the men's golf tournament to The Stanford Daily in her freshman year at Stanford University.^[7]

Career

Prior to joining ESPN, Shelburne spent seven years at the Los Angeles Daily News as a reporter and columnist from 2002-2009.^[5] At ESPN, Ramona gained a national following writing about Frank and Jaime McCourt's divorce and the 2010-2011 Los Angeles Dodgers ownership dispute.^[8][9] On February 14, 2016, Shelburne made her radio debut in a national radio show called Beadle & Shelburne which she co-hosts with ESPN SportsNation host Michelle Beadle.

Honors

In 2016 she was inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.^[6]

Personal life

Ramona's mother Jeanette Shelburne was a professional screenwriter notably for animated children's television shows,^[7] and is a member of the Writers Guild of America.^[10] Shelburne has been married to her former Los Angeles Daily News co-worker Nevin Barich since 2009. On October 2, 2018, the couple announced the birth of their first child, son Daniel Charlie Barich.

References