{"id":1150,"date":"2025-06-23T13:20:14","date_gmt":"2025-06-23T13:20:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/?p=1150"},"modified":"2025-07-23T20:51:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T20:51:09","slug":"duane-rankin-carrying-huntington-with-him-all-the-way-to-the-nba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/2025\/06\/23\/duane-rankin-carrying-huntington-with-him-all-the-way-to-the-nba\/","title":{"rendered":"Duane Rankin – Carrying Huntington with him all the way to the NBA"},"content":{"rendered":"
Before Duane Rankin was covering NBA stars and championship storylines as the Phoenix Suns beat writer for the Arizona Republic, he was a young man from Huntington, walking the halls of Smith Hall with a notebook in his bag and ambition in his stride.<\/p>\n

Rankin\u2019s journey began just minutes from campus, growing up in a community where sports, family and pride shaped everything. When it came time for college, Marshall offered not just a full scholarship but a full-circle opportunity to grow as a journalist, a student and a young man still discovering his voice.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Duane along with the Parthenon Staff.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt gave me a great starting point,\u201d Rankin says. \u201cAnd I made the most of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Three moments stand out from Rankin\u2019s time at Marshall, each shaping his path. First was the determination to prove himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were students from other schools with big reputations, and I thought, \u2018This is my campus, my city,\u2019\u201d Rankin said. \u201cI wanted to show I belonged.\u201d<\/p>\n

That mindset led to a 3.75 GPA in his first semester and a clear sense of purpose.<\/p>\n

The second was the support system. Rankin came to Marshall with lifelong friends from Huntington High, Shannon King and LeRon Chapman, who were also building their futures as part of Marshall\u2019s football program.<\/p>\n

And the third? Sports, especially Marshall football\u2019s golden era.\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll never forget standing at the field\u2019s edge in 1992, waiting to rush out after we won the I-AA national championship,\u201d Rankin says. \u201cGrowing up, we saw Marshall football at its lowest. Then we watched it rise. Seeing friends like Shannon lifted up after that win was one of the best moments of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a student journalist, Rankin rose to become The Parthenon\u2019s sports editor. He covered marquee moments like Billy Donovan\u2019s arrival as basketball coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe promised a Sweet 16,\u201d Rankin laughs. \u201cI was skeptical, but he had that presence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Years later, when covering the SEC basketball tournament, Rankin reminded Donovan of those bold promises. The coach replied with a grin: \u201cI meant them for Florida.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI really enjoyed my time there,\u201d Rankin said. \u201cI learned a lot, and it prepared me for the opportunity, the career that I ended up having. I learned a lot from Ralph Turner, Professor Jensen, Hal Shaver was my advisor, Dr. Arnold, and Professor Johnson.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Duane Rankin appearance on the Dan Patrick Show.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Opportunities continued to grow from there. Through the Sports Journalism Institute (SJI), Rankin earned a spot in its inaugural class, launching a career that took him through college football hotbeds and eventually into the NBA. He\u2019s covered legends like Peyton Manning, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant and Derrick Henry to name a few.<\/p>\n

Covering Alabama and Auburn football and basketball as a columnist, Clemson football, the Southeastern Conference tournament, and the G-League and National Basketball Association started with a conversation he had with a professor.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of the professors I had were great, but Professor Jensen, he sat me down and talked to me about the business, and that was important to me,\u201d Rankin said.\"\"<\/p>\n

What hasn\u2019t changed? His deep love for Marshall \u2014 and Marshall football. Rankin and a close group of alumni have made it a tradition to attend one big road game each season. From Notre Dame to NC State to Ohio State, he shows up in his Herd gear.<\/p>\n

\u201cI stay to the final whistle, and soak in the shared pride of Herd Nation,\u201d Rankin said. \u201cI\u2019ve already got my tickets to watch the Herd play in Athens against the University of Georgia. I\u2019m all in. Every year, no matter what.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t “It\u2019s still in progress. The journey is still continuing \u2014 it\u2019s not over. To go from that person in Huntington trying to figure out who he was, to fast forward to now and I\u2019ve covered NBA finals, been face-to-face with Nick Saban, to think I would be covering these people and writing about these people is insane.”<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t- Duane Rankin<\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n\n

Rankin says you don\u2019t realize the pride you have for Marshall, Huntington or the state until you\u2019re away.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m from West Virginia, not Virginia,\u201d Rankin said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m from Huntington, not Huntington Beach. And Marshall was the first Group of Five football team to make waves, not Boise State.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking back, Rankin sees his journey as one that\u2019s still in motion.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s still in progress. The journey is still continuing \u2014 it\u2019s not over,\u201d Rankin said. \u201cTo go from that person in Huntington trying to figure out who he was, to fast forward to now and I\u2019ve covered NBA finals, been face-to-face with Nick Saban, to think I would be covering these people and writing about these people is insane.\u201d<\/p>\n

From The Parthenon newsroom to NBA arenas around the country, Duane Rankin\u2019s story is one of pride, persistence and an unwavering connection to the university \u2014 and city \u2014 that helped launch it all.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before Duane Rankin was covering NBA stars and championship storylines as the Phoenix Suns beat writer for the Arizona Republic, he was a young man from Huntington, walking the halls of Smith Hall with a notebook in his bag and ambition in his stride. Rankin\u2019s journey began just minutes from campus, growing up in a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":619,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-moments"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/619"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1150"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1150\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1265,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1150\/revisions\/1265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}