Joe Mitch

USBWA's summer mission: Reach a record 1,000 members

By JOE MITCH / Missouri Valley Conference
USBWA Executive Director
mitch@mvc.org

Tweet

The USBWA is on a mission to reach 1,000 members this season.

Never in the 56-year history of the organization has the USBWA been at 1,000 members. We've been close a couple times. The last two years, the USBWA was around 900 in membership.

As President Lenox Rawlings pointed out in his column in this issue of Tipoff, the USBWA offers many invaluable benefits for SIDs and journalists covering college basketball.

Perhaps the most valuable is the annual membership directory listing the names of every NCAA Division I men's and women's basketball coach and SID in the country, complete with phone numbers and e-mail addresses.

In addition, the directory lists the names of beat writers, columnists and radio/TV announcers who cover all 350-some Division I schools.

Former USBWA president Alex Wolff once said: "The USBWA publishes the most comprehensive telephone directory and resource guide on college basketball in the nation. The directory is worth the price of membership alone."

One new benefit for members starting this year is the reinstatement of the college scholarship program for children of USBWA members.

The USBWA will award one $2,000 grant each year to the son or daughter of an active USBWA member, who is of college age and is either ready to start or is presently enrolled in a university, college or junior college.

Applications for the scholarship will be accepted between Sept. 1 and April 15 of each school year. Announcement of the grant will be made in June. A three-member scholarship committee will review the applications and select the recipient.

The maximum award to any family shall be $2,000. The scholarship can only be applied toward undergraduate degrees.

The USBWA had a similar college scholarship program several years ago, but it was discontinued because of a lack of funding.

Complete details for the scholarship program with instructions on how to apply will be posted later in the summer on the USBWA website at www.usbwa.com.

•

Congratulations are in order for past president Alex Wolff, who has been selected to receive the Curt Gowdy Media Award by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., in September.

Wolff was president of the USBWA in 1999-2000 and was inducted into the USBWA Hall of Fame in 2002. As president, he helped start a USBWA-sponsored scholarship program for aspiring sports journalism students and also initiated a sportswriting seminar held each year at the Final Four.

Other USBWA past presidents who have received the Gowdy Award previously include Larry Donald, Dave Dorr, Dick Weiss, Bob Ryan, Malcolm Moran, Jim O'Connell, Bob Hammel, Bob Hentzen, Dick Herbert and Smith Barrier. Other past winners who are either currently or have been USBWA members include Curry Kirkpatrick and Dave Kindred.