The man who authored the Basketball Writers Association's original constitution and was a key person in the formation of the USBWA 50 years ago has been selected by the USBWA board of directors to receive the Katha Quinn Award for service and contributions to the organization.

Wayne Duke, former Big Eight and Big Ten Conference commissioner who was an assistant to NCAA chief Walter Byers when the USBWA was founded in 1956, will be presented with this year's Katha Quinn Award at the USBWA's annual
awards breakfast on Monday, April 3, in Indianapolis during the 2006 NCAA Final Four.

As Byers' assistant, Duke was assigned the task to write the USBWA constitution and spearhead efforts to organize an  association of sports writers to promote college basketball.

Duke was voted into the USBWA's Hall of Fame as a charter member in 1988.

“With this being the 50th anniversary of the USBWA, there is no one more appropriate to receive this award than Wayne,” said past USBWA president Malcolm Moran, who created the idea to present the Katha Quinn Award in honor of the former St. John's University sports information director.

Katha was a beloved and nationally respected SID who lost a courageous battle with cancer in 1990.

Since naming the award for her following her death, the USBWA has honored a diverse group of individuals who like Katha
have either excelled at servicing the media or provide an inspiration to those in the sports journalism profession. Recent winners include Mike Tranghese of the Big East Conference, Mark Asher of the Washington Post, Jack Watkins of the Missouri Valley Conference, Jim Marchiony of the NCAA and Steve Kirschner of North Carolina.