INDIANAPOLIS (USBWA) – Gene Wang, whose versatility for more than three decades made his reporting an essential part of college basketball coverage in The Washington Post, has been named recipient of the Jim O’Connell Award for excellence in beat reporting by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.
Wang will be honored at the annual awards luncheon at Xiber Square at Gainbridge Fieldhouse at 11:30 a.m. on Monday, April 6.
“On a staff that has defined the coverage of college basketball for more than half a century, Gene’s work in the Post made him a must-read throughout its circulation area,” said USBWA executive director Malcolm Moran. “His contributions as a member of the USBWA board of directors provided consistently thoughtful observations that guided our recognition of athletes and coaches.”
For the past four seasons, Wang was the beat reporter for Maryland men’s basketball, chronicling the Terrapins’ run to the Sweet 16, a first in nearly a decade, during the 2025 NCAA tournament.
“I am deeply honored to receive the Jim O’Connell Award from the USBWA,” Wang said. “Oc was a titan in our industry, and to be associated with an award in his name is truly humbling.”
Wang spent more than 30 years at the Washington Post, most recently as the local colleges reporter covering, among many beats, Maryland, Georgetown, Virginia and Virginia Tech men’s basketball.
Among his most notable assignments since joining the Post in 1990 was reporting on Georgetown men’s basketball team’s trip to Beijing in 2011. Wang’s stories detailing a benches-clearing brawl in the Hoyas’ exhibition game against the Bayi Military Rockets earned recognition from the Associated Press Sports Editors for beat reporting.
Wang was on the Virginia beat for the team’s historic loss as a No. 1 seed to 16th-seeded UMBC in the first round of the 2018 NCAA men’s basketball tournament. The following season, he covered the Cavaliers’ redemptive run to the school’s first national championship.
The Jim O’Connell Award was created by the USBWA in 2019 to honor the late national college basketball writer for the Associated Press after his passing in 2018 at the age of 64. O’Connell served as president of the USBWA in 1997-98 and was inducted into the organization’s Hall of Fame in 2002.
Later that year O’Connell was awarded the Curt Gowdy Print Media Award for lifetime coverage of basketball by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He covered every NCAA Men’s Final Four from 1979 through 2017. His coverage of the 2015 event took place soon after he underwent surgery that included a partial amputation of his leg.
The late Terry Hutchens of CNHI Sports Indiana, who had covered Indiana basketball for the Indianapolis Star, was the first recipient in 2020. He was followed by Mike Waters of the Syracuse Post-Standard in 2021, Emily Giambalvo of the Washington Post in 2022, Geoff Grammer of the Albuquerque Journal in 2023, Mike Jensen of the Philadelphia Inquirer in 2024, and Zach Osterman of the Indianapolis Star in 2025.
The U.S. Basketball Writers Association was formed in 1956 at the urging of then-NCAA Executive Director Walter Byers. With some 800 members worldwide, it is one of the most influential organizations in college basketball. For more information on the USBWA and its award programs, contact executive director Malcolm Moran at 814-574-1485.
ALL-TIME JIM O'CONNELL AWARD WINNERS
2019-20: Terry Hutchens, CNHI Sports Indiana
2020-21: Mike Waters, Syracuse Post-Standard
2021-22: Emily Giambalvo, Washington Post
2022-23: Geoff Grammer, Albuquerque Journal
2023-24: Mike Jensen, Philadelphia Inquirer
2024-25: Zach Osterman, Indianapolis Star
2025-26: Gene Wang, Washington Post