ESPN announcer, daughter share an ‘awesome’ moment
February 3-9, 2025
By Rhiannon Potkey
Kennedy Dykes walked into her dad’s home office in Arkansas during her sophomore year of high school. Dykes was deciding if she wanted to run track or be a cheerleader in college. Dykes informed her dad that her heart was pulling her to be a cheerleader at an SEC school.
“She said, ‘My goal is to one day be cheering in a game that you’re announcing.’ She said, ‘I think that would be awesome,’” says ESPN college basketball broadcaster Jimmy Dykes. “I told her I would keep working on my end to make sure I’m ready and you keep working on your end.”
The two made Kennedy’s vision a reality Jan. 4 when the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team hosted Arkansas at Food City Center. Jimmy was seated courtside calling the game for ESPN while Kennedy, a freshman at UT, was cheering for the Vols from the sideline nearby.
“It’s really hard to put it into words to explain how special of a moment and a day it was,” Kennedy says. “Because back whenever I decided I wanted to cheer in college, we set a goal together that one day I would be cheering a college basketball game and he would be announcing it. After years and years of hard work and lots of prayer, that dream finally came true. It was just really special that we got to share that and share something that we both love to do and we’re both so passionate about.”
Having spent years supporting his daughter and being her biggest cheerleader, Jimmy Dykes knew he would be emotional when the moment finally happened.
“As a parent, to watch your kid chase a dream and put so many hours into something and then to see that dream pay off and then for me to be there announcing – it was such a cool moment,” he says. “We made eye contact several times and she had a big smile on her face. That’s God. God’s been very good to our family to have an opportunity to do something like that.”
‘Massively competitive’
Kennedy grew up as a competitive gymnast. In the ninth grade, the family knew she would have to be homeschooled to enable her to become a college gymnast.
“We just decided as a family that we wanted a little more balance in our life than living in a gym seven or eight hours a day,” Jimmy says. “So she transitioned out of gymnastics into cheerleading as a sophomore in high school, and she ran track in high school and loved it, as well.”
Kennedy began attending some college clinics for cheerleading and realized she had potential to participate in cheerleading in college.
“I was blown away by how competitive it is,” Jimmy says. “The athletes that they look for now, especially at the SEC level and schools that go compete at nationals, are high-level athletes. We went into it with our eyes kind of wide-open, about what was this all about? How does it work? We found out pretty quickly that it’s massively competitive like anything else at the Division I level.”
Kennedy attended a UT clinic and instantly fell in love with the idea of being a UT cheerleader.
“I saw a Tennessee football game. I met the coach, met the team and I just knew that I felt right at home,” says Kennedy, a communications studies major. “The people were amazing. The culture that the program has is incredible. Chelsea Bowlin, my coach, she’s an amazing person. I’m really lucky to be coached by her and be a part of her team.”
The Dykes family resides in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and Kennedy is the only child. Since Jimmy can live anywhere because of his job as a broadcaster, the family was together throughout the entire football season in the fall.
“It’s worked out really well. We have loved our time in Knoxville. We found a church we love and good people,” Jimmy says. “I’ll probably travel in and out of Knoxville for most of my basketball season too, just so we can be around her.”
It’s not guaranteed that Kennedy will be cheering at every UT home game her father is calling. The cheer squad is split up during basketball season because of the volume of games for the men’s and women’s teams.
But the first game will always be a priceless memory for the family. Jimmy spoke about it briefly at the start of the broadcast and Jimmy and Kennedy took a picture hugging each other when it was done.
“It was a great moment. I was really proud,” Jimmy says. “I think every parent out there understood when I was saying on the broadcast that it’s really a great moment to see your daughter accomplish something and be there to watch her and share it together.”
With permission from the Hamilton County Herald
Photo caption:
Kennedy Dykes’ goal was met recently at the Tennessee-Arkansas game.
Photo Credit:
Tennessee Athletics/UTsports.com