Alyssa Lang Q&A: USC alum at home in the Carolinas with SEC Network
Alyssa Lang started her career in Columbia. Now she’s living a dream as a reporter and host for the SEC Network.
A South Carolina alum, Lang began her career at WLTX and moved to Jacksonville, Florida, for a short stint away from the Carolinas. She’s now in Charlotte and covers everything in USC’s conference.
The State caught up with Lang at SEC Media Days in Hoover, Alabama, to see how things were going on national TV.
The State: What has life been like at the SEC Network?
Lang: Oh, man, it’s been incredible. It’s a dream come true, still for me. Sometimes I have to pinch myself, like this morning when I walked out to the set. But it’s been awesome, just being able to rub elbows with some of the best athletes in the SEC and in the country, and coaches who have just amazing experience. It’s been great. And I feel super blessed to be able to do it.
The State: Has it been good to get back to the Carolinas after that little sojourn to Florida?
Lang: Yeah, I definitely missed being in the Carolinas. And now that I live in Charlotte, the drive down to Columbia is so much shorter than when I was in Jacksonville. I’ve been to Columbia a handful of times since I’ve been back, just to eat some Palmetto Pig and all that good stuff. So being back in the Carolinas feels like home. Seeing Gamecocks hats walking around in Charlotte is nice.
The State: Was it just a matter of them kind of calling you out of the blue and dropping in and saying, ‘We think you’d be good for this’?
Lang: Sort of. So I got very lucky. I will not deny that I got extremely lucky. I had made a contact at ESPNU. At the time, SEC Network was not around yet when I was in college. But when I was a student at South Carolina, I made a contact with a producer there. We sort of kept up throughout the years. I would send him some work every now and then just asking for critiques. I never thought it would turn into a job, until last year when he called me. He said, ‘Hey, we might have an opening. Are you interested?’ And I said, “Absolutely I’m interested.” So it was as simple as that, and I guess he kind of got my resume where I guess it needed to go and then I went through the whole audition and interview process and everything. And it ended up working out and I’m so thankful for that. I tell everyone that I know, networking is everything because it’s pretty much the reason I’m here now.
The State: What do you expect from the Gamecocks this season?
Lang: I’m expecting some hard-fought games because that schedule — wow. They have a gauntlet of a schedule. I’m almost kind of nervous for them just because I see some of those big-time games that ... they have to play and I know [Will] Muschamp is going to have those guys mentally and physically ready, as ready as they can possibly be. I’m never afraid of watching the Gamecocks and feeling like they laid down or they didn’t fight back. So when ‘Bama comes to Columbia, I’ve been telling everyone, it’s not going to be a cakewalk. Gamecocks are going to put up a fight. I’m excited to see what Jake Bentley does in his last year. And I think Muschamp has been such a great fit for South Carolina, especially over the last few years. I think now is when we’re really going to start to see his time that he’s spent in Columbia really come to fruition. It’s going to be a hard-fought race in the East and of course with ‘Bama over there in the West. I would say, a successful season is certainly a possibility and I’m really excited to see what they do.
The State: Has it been weird going from covering and seeing South Carolina as a local reporter and an alum to being a conference reporter?
Lang: It is kind of weird. As a local reporter, you’re kind of really fighting for that interview and you’re trying to get all the access you can. It’s hard. Local news, I have so much respect for everybody who does it just because I know how hard it is. Being with the conference is definitely a different experience. We’re really lucky to be able to get some of that extra time with coach Muschamp or players, and it’s really cool to have sort of that inside look at what’s going on. All the coaches are so friendly with the network and everybody. They really allow us to put them on display and they’re very candid with us in telling stories and things like that, so we can best represent them on the SEC Network, which is really cool that they trust you with that.
The State: Lastly, can you call dibs on any Gamecocks games, and if you can, have you tried?
Lang: I feel like I did last year. The South Carolina-Chattanooga game last year, I sent an email to someone and I said, “Hey, if there’s no one on this game yet, I’d love to do it.” And next thing I knew, a couple days later I got the email that I was doing it. I don’t know if it actually mattered. Maybe they already had me on it, so I don’t want to act like I have some scheduling power or anything, but I hope I get to do another South Carolina game this year. To all the non-South Carolina people, I’m not biased when I’m reporting, but it is really cool.