Arash Markazi

Who is Arash Markazi?

Arash Markazi is an Iranian-American sports journalist currently writing for ESPN.

Markazi, who is of Iranian decent, was born in Oklahoma City and raised in Los Angeles, graduating from Notre Dame High School. He attended Arizona State University and later University of Southern California. He wrote a regular column for the Daily Trojan and also had work published in several magazines and newspapers outside of USC, including SLAM Magazine, XXL, King magazine, Vibe, Playboy, the Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Daily News and Associated Press. He graduated with a degree in Print Journalism from the USC Annenberg School for Communication in 2004.

Markazi wrote for Sports Illustrated on Campus, appearing on the cover of the March 31, 2005 issue, and began writing a weekly column for Sports Illustrated’s website SI.com called "The Hot Read." Markazi's intimate and quirky portraits of Wayne Gretzky, Ronaldo, Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush caused the Los Angeles Times to name him one of the Faces to Watch in 2006

He is a two-time cancer survivor and a cancer advocate. While Markazi underwent cancer treatment in 2005, comedian Jay Mohr filled in for him at SI.com.