Piedmont's Percival to serve as ESPN sideline reporter for FBS games

Piedmont College Assistant Director of Athletic Communications Danielle Percival has made quite the splash already since joining the Green and Gold by revamping the Mane Event Broadcasting Network with feature interviews of the coaching staff as well as newly designed integrated graphics with the network's live broadcasts. Now Percival will get a chance to work for the Network itself after having been asked earlier this week to serve as a sideline reporter on a pair of NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision games with none other than the one and only ESPN.<br /> <br /> Percival joined the Athletic Communications staff at Piedmont this summer after a stint with Troy University where she worked as a reporter and anchor for Troy University Television where she conducted interviews with coaches at the Division I level including Head Football Coach Larry Blakeney. Percival's work with Troy, including her time as a play-by-play announcer for both baseball and softball contests, was well documented by the Trojans' own conference, the Sun Belt Conference. <br /> <br /> In fact, Percival's upcoming opportunity with ESPN will not be the first time that the up-and-coming communications guru has worked with Division I football as she was asked by the Sun Belt Conference earlier this summer to serve as the host of the Sun Belt Social Suite. While in this role, Percival interviewed the Sun Belt football coaches as part of the league's Media Day in New Orleans, Louisiana while also utilizing social media to bring the fans' questions directly to the coaches running the show on the field on Saturdays. <br /> <br /> Percival will return to the Pelican State for one of her two football assignments with ESPN as she heads to Malone Stadium in Monroe where the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks will host Percival's previous employer, the Troy Trojans. That contest is set for a 7:00 p.m. evening kickoff on September 27 and will be UL Monroe's first contest following their matchup with SEC powerhouse and No. 8 LSU from last weekend.<br /> <br /> Also on the docket for Percival's stint with ESPN is a showing at the September 20 Georgia Southern vs. South Alabama game which kicks off at 7:30 p.m. in Mobile at the home of the Jaguars, Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Like UL Monroe, South Alabama hosts the contest after taking on a SEC foe with Mississippi State University having paid the Jaguars a visit this past weekend marking the first home game vs. a SEC School for the Mobile-based program which began only six seasons ago.<br /> <br /> "This is an absolute dream come true for me to work with ESPN," Percival said of her debut with the Network. "I know I wouldn't have this opportunity if it were not for all those who have helped me along the way and taken a chance on me, including the Sun Belt Conference staff."<br /> <br /> Both broadcasts will air on ESPN3, a network that Percival has worked with before serving as a statistician for the network's broadcasts of the 2013 Sun Belt Volleyball Championships.