By James Tatter, Editor-in-Chief

Stuart Scott was a man who was a friend to everyone he met: hundreds of professional athletes, celebrities and even the President of the United States.

He was a man whom millions watched on TV, and whose death led to his name becoming the No. 1 trend on Twitter within hours, with more than one million tweets referencing him.

He was a man who was thrilling, inspiring and unforgettable.

He was also an R.J. Reynolds Demon.

Stuart Scott, a member of the RJR Class of 1983, passed away on the morning of Jan. 4 after a long and recurring battle with cancer. He was 49 years old.

Scott began work at ESPN in 1993 and quickly rose to become one of the network’s most prominent figures. He was an anchor for ESPN’s flagship broadcast, SportsCenter. Scott also often conducted feature interviews for ESPN, ranging from sports icons such as Michael Jordan to global icons such as Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

He was known for his flair and his catchphrases, including his emphatic “Boo-Yah!”

Upon news of his passing Sunday morning, many took to Twitter to express their condolences. Sports celebrities including LeBron James, Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant, JJ Watt, Barry Sanders, Mike Trout and many more shared messages highlighting Scott’s impact on them. Other friends of Scott’s sounded off as well, such as broadcaster Dick Vitale, comedian Kevin Hart and President Obama.

Scott was a celebrity in his own right, and he got his start growing up in Winston-Salem.

Scott went from Speas Elementary to Cook Middle School, then to Wiley Junior High School before attending Mount Tabor for his freshman and sophomore years and ultimately graduating from RJR. He continued his education at UNC Chapel Hill.

His involvement around Reynolds included competing on the football and track and field teams along with serving as an officer in the Key Club and as vice president of the Student Council.

Scott was set to be inducted into the Reynolds Hall of Fame in a ceremony planned for Feb. 6. Reynolds Athletic Director Brad Fisher announced that the honor would now be awarded posthumously.

Stephen Young, a classmate of Scott’s who was the year behind him at Mount Tabor, Reynolds and Chapel Hill, recalled great times spent between himself and Scott.

“He and I acted in a little local movie that was never finished but gave us a lot of fun times together,” Young said. “I’d often give him a ride to the set, and we’d talk about becoming movie stars. We talked seriously, too, about girls and sports and the various dramas in our families. That will always be how I remember Stuart – an easy, trustworthy friend.”

After graduating from Reynolds in 1983, Scott took various radio, television and film production classes at Chapel Hill before pursuing a career in television broadcasting.

Frank Johnson, who described himself as a lifelong friend of Scott’s and a classmate of his from Speas all the way through their graduation from Reynolds, recalled Scott’s rise through the journalistic ranks.

“He got out of UNC and started working as a field reporter in Raleigh,” Johnson said. “I’d see him on TV and didn’t think much about it.”

Johnson, a graduate of Wake Forest, also recalled his first time seeing Scott on ESPN.

“Flash forward a few years: Wake had a big upset that day, so that night I turned on SportsCenter and there was Stuart!” Johnson said.

Immediately upon beginning work at ESPN, Scott established himself as a new kind of sports broadcaster. His loud and confident personality along with his myriad catch phrases began an evolution of the network toward its trendy role in popular culture today.

In November of 2007, doctors discovered that Scott had a cancerous tumor during an emergency appendectomy. The disease was treated, but Scott suffered from recurrences in 2011 and 2013. Throughout his battle he remained strong and adamant that he would beat the disease. His fortitude inspired many, so much so that he was awarded the Jimmy V Perseverance award in the summer of 2014.

During his acceptance speech for the award, Scott described what beating cancer meant to him.

“When you die, that does not mean that you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you live, why you live, and the manner in which you live,” Scott said.

So while cancer ultimately claimed Scott’s life, Scott is not a victim who lost his battle with the disease. Stuart Scott beat cancer through the manner in which he lived every day, which is the way in which so many from the Reynolds community are remembering him today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9cSX5XPY70

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