U.S. Basketball Writers Association News

INDIANAPOLIS (USBWA) – The U.S. Basketball Writers Association has named five Oscar Robertson National Players of the Week for games of the week ending Sunday, Nov. 10.

The return of collegiate basketball means the return of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association handing out its women’s five-member Ann Meyers Drysdale national players of the week, its Tamika Catchings freshman award, and noting its National Team of the Week. For the period through Sunday, Nov. 10, the first five Ann Meyers Drysdale national women’s honorees of the season are Rutgers guard/forward Destiny Adams, Oklahoma center Raegan Beers, UCLA center Lauren Betts, Norfolk State guard Diamond Johnson, and Notre Dame guard Olivia Miles. The initial Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Week is Michigan guard Syla Swords and Oregon is the USBWA National Team of the Week.

Lucas Lesko of Wilkes University (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) and Destiny Matthews of Concordia University (Austin, Texas) were named the Basketball Writers Association Division III National Players of the Week for the period ending November 10.

Basketball legend Jerry West passed away today at the age of 86. Following is a statement on behalf of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.

The U.S. Basketball Writers Association will name its annual award for Women’s National Coach of the Year after Geno Auriemma of the University of Connecticut, it was announced on Wednesday.

Photos from the annual awards luncheon in Cleveland, site of the 2024 Women's Final Four.

Purdue center Zach Edey maintained his dominance in the paint and over all opponents again this season, leading the nation in scoring at 24.6 points per game and listing second in rebounding average at 12.1. Those marks that helped lead the Boilermakers (33-4) to the Big Ten regular season title and eventually their first Final Four since 1980 earned Edey a repeat honor as the 2023-24 Oscar Robertson Trophy winner as the USBWA National Player of the Year.

Hailed as a generational player as the most prolific scorer in women’s college basketball history, Iowa guard Caitlin Clark commanded attention not just from Hawkeye opponents but fans as well as she continued to rewrite assorted record books this season. The three-time Big Ten Player of the Year’s iconic season that has led Iowa to its third Final Four earned Clark a repeat selection as the winner of the 2023-24 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award as the USBWA National Player of the Year.

Emily Adams of the Hartford Courant, who has covered two of the most successful women’s college basketball programs in the nation, has been named a winner of the 2024 Rising Star Award by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.

Joye Lee-McNelis, who coached the women’s basketball team at the University of Southern Mississippi for a 20th season despite a recurrence of stage 4 lung cancer, is the winner of the 2024 Pat Summitt Most Courageous Award. Lee-McNelis will be honored on Friday at the USBWA Awards Brunch at the NCAA Women’s Final Four in Cleveland.

Michelle Smith, the first women’s basketball columnist at two organizations, and Dan Fleser, who covered championship teams at the University of Tennessee, will be honored as part of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s Hall of Fame Class of 2024. Their presence will give the Class of 2024 more than 180 years of experience covering college basketball at the highest levels of the game.

Last season’s Oscar Robertson Trophy winner and the nation's leading scorer, three repeat selections, a pair of North Carolina teammates and four SEC stars headline the 2023-24 U.S. Basketball Writers Association's Men's All-America Team. The 15-man team includes a player from each of the NCAA Tournament’s four No. 1 seeds and six players who were their conference players of the year.

A pair of Ann Meyers Drysdale National Players of the Year headline the 2023-24 USBWA Women's All-America Team. Iowa's Caitlin Clark, now a four-time All-American, and UConn's Paige Bueckers, earning her second honor, join LSU's three-time selection Angel Reese to bolster a power-packed six-woman first team. In all, 16 players were honored among three teams, in addition to five honorable mention selections.

After leading USC to its first No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament since 1986, JuJu Watkins has been named the winner of the Tamika Catchings Award as the national freshman player of the year by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.

INDIANAPOLIS (USBWA) – Kentucky guard Reed Sheppard, one of the country’s top three-point shooters, the Southeastern Conference’s Freshman of the Year and a member of its all-conference second team, has won the 2023-24 Wayman Tisdale Award as the U.S. Basketball Writers Association's National Freshman Player of the Year.

Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson led the Cougars to the Big 12 Conference regular-season title with a 15-3 record in their debut season in the league using a frenetic defense to post a 30-win season and a top seed in the NCAA Tournament’s South Region. For leading his program to its fifth conference regular-season title in the last six seasons and a sixth straight NCAA Tournament, Sampson has been named the winner of the 2023-24 Henry Iba Award, given annually by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association to its national coach of the year.

For the fourth time in her career and for the third straight season, South Carolina's Dawn Staley has been named the Women's National Coach of the Year by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.

In recognition of his long service and commitment to the game of women’s basketball, NCAA associate director, media coordination and statistics Rick Nixon has been named the U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s Mary Jo Haverbeck Award winner for 2024.

The U.S. Basketball Writers Association is pleased to honor Mike Jensen, longtime college basketball writer and columnist for the Phildelphia Inquirer, as the winner of the Jim O'Connell Award for excellence in beat reporting. Jensen will be recognized April 8 at the association's annual awards luncheon in Glendale, Ariz., site of the Men's Final Four.

Jeremiah Armstead, who overcame homelessness throughout his high school years to earn a spot on the basketball team at Fisk University, is the winner of the 2024 Perry Wallace Most Courageous Award. Armstead, a 6-foot-5 sophomore, will be honored on April 8 at the USBWA Awards Luncheon at the NCAA Men’s Final Four in Glendale, Ariz.