13 things about St. Louis, Missouri native Taylor Rooks

Taylor Rooks was born in Saint Louis, Missouri, United States to Thomas Rooks and Stephanie Rooks. The city is around 185 miles away from Urbana, Illinois, which is home to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

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BIOGRAPHY

Rooks is an American sports journalist and broadcaster. She and her parents are alumni of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Taylor’s brother Ryan Rooks graduated from the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, USA. Here are 13 more things about her:

1. In 2010, she graduated from Peachtree Ridge High School in Suwanee, Georgia where she earned a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism.
2. From 2010 to 2014, she attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
3. From 2012 to 2014, she worked with sports publishing company Scout Media covering basketball and football in Illinois.
4. In 2014, she joined Big Ten Network (BTN), a sports network based in Chicago, Illinois.
5. In 2016, she joined the SportsNet New York (SNY), sports network in New York, USA.
6. She was a sideline reporter for CBS Sports Network for the 2016–2017 college football season.
7. In 2018, she joined Bleacher Report, a sports website based in San Francisco, California, USA.
8. Before the 2022 National Football League season, Amazon Prime Video hired her to contribute to its pregame, halftime and postgame shows for Thursday Night Football.
9. In 2023, she added sideline reporting duties for TNT Sports and reported for select college basketball.
10. In 2024, she started reporting for National Basketball Association games for TNT Sports.
11. On May 22, 2025, she turned 33.
12. In 2025, she got married.
13. Starting with the 2025-2026 NBA season, she will lead NBA on Prime Video’s studio coverage.

TIMELINE

Taylor’s granduncle Louis Clark “Lou” Brock was a Major League Baseball player from 1961 to 1979. Her uncle Marvin “Marv” Lewis Woodson was an NFL player from 1964 to 1969.

2010s

• In August 2012, she joined Scout Media.
• In May 2014, she graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and left Scout Media.
• In August 2014, she became a BTN on-air host, reporter and correspondent.
• In August 2016, she became an SNY host, reporter and anchor.
• In June 2018, she became a Bleacher Report journalist.

2020s

• In January 2025, she revealed her role as the host of Prime Video’s new NBA studio show during the 2025-2026 NBA season, which will be from October 21, 2025 to June 4, 2026, along with with Dirk Nowitzki and Blake Griffin.
• On July 23, 2025, she took to social media to share photos from her wedding in New York City, New York, which was attended by rapper Jack Harlow, Fanatics chief executive officer Michael Rubin, NFL player Saquon Barkley, NBA players Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Donovan Mitchell and Mitchell’s fiancée Coco Jones. She has yet to reveal the identity of her husband but one of the photos shows that his first name is Shane.