Kilborn, the son of Shirley, a school teacher, and Hiram Kilborn, an insurance executive, was born in Kansas City, but from the age 4, was raised in Hastings, Minnesota.[1] From early on Kilborn was taller than his peers and early on it made him a consistent standout from elementary playgrounds through his prep years in Hastings. He would eventually grow to be 6' 5" tall.[2] In the 9th grade Kilborn caught the eye of a man that coached an All-Star team from Minneapolis called the Northside Magicians. Kilborn accepted an invitation to join the team in national tournaments. Kilborn, again stood out because of his talent. He starred in basketball at Hastings High School, earning three letters, All-Conference and All-State honors. His talent attracted the attention of NCAA Division I scouts and Kilborn accepted a scholarship to Montana State University.
Kilborn began his television career as the sports anchor for Monterey County's Fox affiliate KCBA in Salinas, California. Some of his on air work included covering the Gilroy Garlic Festival and playing bocce ball with the locals near Cannery Row. Kilborn lived in nearby Carmel-by-the-Sea. Prior to KCBA, Kilborn was the CBA Savannah Spirits's play-by-play radio commentator in 1986 and 1987. After several small jobs, Kilborn became an ESPN SportsCenter anchor from 1993 to 1996. Kilborn was primarily the anchor of the late broadcast of SportsCenter which he coined "The Feel Good Edition". His numerous catch phrases included "Release, Rotation, Splash", "Jumanji", and "Oh, Precious". He made a return appearance to SportsCenter on August 8, 2004, when he co-hosted SportsCenter with Dan Patrick during ESPN's 25th Anniversary Celebration.
