USBWA MEN'S AWARDS CALENDAR SET

ST. LOUIS (USBWA) The U.S. Basketball Writers Association will announce its 2011-12 men's college basketball awards over the next three weeks. Following is the complete awards calendar, beginning with today's announcement of the All-District teams:


Tues., March 6: All-District Teams
· Mon., March 12: All-America Team
· Tues., March 13: Wayman Tisdale Award (National Freshman of the Year)
· Mon., March 19: Oscar Robertson Trophy (National Player of the Year) and Henry Iba Award (National Coach of the Year)


The Oscar Robertson Trophy, presented to the National Player of the Year, and the Henry Iba Award, presented to the National Coach of the Year, will be handed out at the annual USBWA College Basketball Awards Breakfast on Friday, March 30 at the New Orleans Marriott. Basketball icon Oscar Robertson will present his namesake award to the recipient in person at the event.


In addition, legendary coach Dale Brown and his 1981 and '86 LSU Final Four teams will be honored. Louisiana native, national talk show host and longtime CBS Sports play-by-play man Tim Brando will introduce coach Brown and his former players at the event.


Tickets to the breakfast may be purchased through the USBWA website at the following link:


  http://www.sportswriters.net/usbwa/awards/breakfast/index.html


The Wayman Tisale Award will be presented at a gala banquet on Mon., April 16 at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. Tickets and sponsorship information for the event are available at the Tisdale Award website, access-sports.net, or by contacting Scott Hill (405-749-1515, scott.hill@access-sports.net).


The U.S. Basketball Writers Association was formed in 1956 at the urging of then-NCAA Executive Director Walter Byers. With some 900 members worldwide, it is one of the most influential organizations in college basketball. It has selected an All-America team since the 1956-57 season. For more information on the USBWA and its award programs, contact executive director Joe Mitch at 314-444-4325.