USBWA Awards Articles

The legendary Dick Vitale is honored in St. Louis with the USBWA's Dean Smith Award.

The U.S. Basketball Writers Association Hall of Fame, an institution inspired by former executive director Joe Mitch to recognize outstanding journalists nearly 40 years ago, will bear his name, it was announced on Monday. The announcement was made at the association’s annual awards luncheon at the Grand Hyatt San Antonio River Walk on Monday.

Zach Osterman, whose coverage of Indiana University basketball this season included the departure of coach Mike Woodson, a highly-scrutinized search for his replacement and a failure to reach the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, has been named recipient of the Jim O’Connell Award for excellence in beat reporting by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.

The boys and girls basketball teams at Palisades Charter High School in California, who completed winning seasons while coping with the trauma of the January wildfires that destroyed much of their campus and left several players without their homes, have been named the winners of the 2025 Perry Wallace Most Courageous Award and 2025 Pat Summitt Most Courageous Award by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.

Dick Vitale, whose philanthropy as a champion of cancer research has become as much a part of his signature as his devotion to basketball, has been named the recipient of the Dean Smith Award by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, recognizing an individual in the sport who embodies the spirit and values of the late Coach Smith.

High-scoring first-year Vanderbilt guard Mikayla Blakes rewrote the Southeastern Conference's freshman record book, leading the Commodores to a second straight NCAA Tournament with 23.3 points per game to earn her the 2024-25 Tamika Catchings National Freshman Player of the Year Award from the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.

A prolific scorer who led her USC Trojans to their first conference title since 1994 in their first season in the Big Ten Conference, JuJu Watkins has been selected as the winner of the 2024-25 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award as the national player of the year by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.

A Duke freshman who played like a veteran this season in becoming a consensus First Team All-American and the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year, guard/forward Cooper Flagg has been selected as the winner of both the 2024-25 Oscar Robertson Trophy winner as the National Player of the Year and the 2024-25 Wayman Tisdale Award winner as the National Freshman Player of the Year by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.

St. John's head coach Rick Pitino rejuvenated the Red Storm’s program this season with a 30-4 record to date, reaching the 30-win mark for just the third time in program history and first time since 1985-86 as they head into the NCAA Tournament on Thursday. For guiding St. John’s to its first Big East Conference title in 40 seasons as well as the conference tournament title, Pitino has been named the winner of the 2024-25 Henry Iba Award, given annually by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association to its national coach of the year.

UCLA head coach Cori Close guided a roster full of stalwart players to an historic regular season that included a 23-game win streak and a No. 1 ranking for half the season. For her success challenging for the regular-season title and then winning the school’s first conference championship at the Big Ten Tournament in their first season in the league, Close is the USBWA National Coach of the Year for the 2024-25 season.

The Southeastern Conference boasts four standout players to headline the 2024-25 U.S. Basketball Writers Association Men's All-America Team, including three first-team selections. All four NCAA Tournament No. 1 seeds are represented on the team, which includes three repeat selections among the 17 players honored on three teams, with two players receiving honorable mention.

Many familiar faces are featured on the 2024-25 U.S. Basketball Writers Association's Women's All-America Team, with 11 of 15 players on the three teams having earned previous All-America honors from the USBWA.

Scott McConnell, the Assistant Athletic Director/Communications at the University of Texas who has represented men’s basketball teams there for nearly 27 years, has been named the U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s Katha Quinn Award winner for 2025. McConnell will receive the award on April 7 in San Antonio at a luncheon before the national championship game.

Marisa Ingemi of the San Francisco Chronicle – who covers Stanford, Cal and all things women’s sports for the paper – has been named the winner of the 2025 Rising Star Award by the Women’s Board of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.

Brendan Marks of The Athletic, who covers Duke and North Carolina, has been named the winner of the 2025 Rising Star Award by the Men’s Board of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.

In recognition of her long service to the game of women’s basketball, Rose DiPaula, Director of Strategic Communications and Content Development at the University of Maryland, has been named the U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s Mary Jo Haverbeck Award winner for 2025.

The U.S. Basketball Writers Association Hall of Fame Class of 2025 honors seven reporters and columnists who have covered men’s and women’s basketball for a total of more than 230 years.

The U.S. Basketball Writers Association has named five Oscar Robertson National Players of the Week for games of the week ending Sunday, March 2.

For the final period through Sunday, March 2, the five Ann Meyers Drysdale national women’s honorees of the week are Iowa State center Audi Crooks; South Carolina forward Chloe Kitts; West Virginia guard JJ Quinerly; Maryland guard Shyanne Sellers; USC guard JuJu Watkins. The Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Week is Duke forward Toby Fournier and and the National Team of the Week is Columbia.

The U.S. Basketball Writers Association has named five Oscar Robertson National Players of the Week for games of the week ending Sunday, Feb. 23.