Mel Greenberg | |
|---|---|
 Greenberg in March 2011 | |
| Born | April 16, 1947 |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Temple University |
| Occupation | Sports journalist |
| Known for | Sports journalist for the The Philadelphia Inquirer Initiated the Top 25 AP Poll for NCAA Division I women's basketball |
Mel Greenberg (born April 16, 1947) is an American sports journalist focusing on women's basketball.
Greenberg attended Temple University where he was the manager of the Temple Owls men's basketball team. When Greenberg graduated from the Klein College of Media and Communication he landed a job covering college and professional basketball for The Philadelphia Inquirer . [1]
In 1975 new sports editor Jay Searcy tapped Greenberg to launch the Inquirer's women's basketball coverage and start a weekly women's poll. Greenberg initially balked at the idea, thinking it would be impossible to accurately gather the information needed, but relented and took the job, thinking it would be good to give the sport more media coverage. [1]
This helped pioneer national coverage of the sport, and ultimately became the first Top 25 AP Poll for NCAA Division I women's basketball. He has been called "The Guru" of women's basketball. [1]
In 1991, Greenberg received the first media award from the Women's Basketball Coaches Association, an award that has since been named after him. The annual Mel Greenberg Media Award is given to "a member of the media who has best displayed a commitment to women's basketball and to advancing the role of the media in promoting the women's game".[ citation needed ]
In 2007, Greenberg was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. [2]
In 2010 Greenberg retired from the Inquirer but still maintains his personal blog, "Womhoops Guru." [1]
In 2019 his alma mater, the Klein College of Media and Communication, inducted him into their alumni hall of fame. [1]
Rebecca Rose Lobo-Rushin is an American television basketball analyst and former women's basketball player in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) from 1997 to 2003. Lobo, at 6'4", played the center position for much of her career. Lobo played college basketball at the University of Connecticut, where she was a member of the team that won the 1995 national championship, going 35–0 on the season in the process. Lobo was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010. In April 2017, she was announced as one of the members of the 2017 class of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, alongside Tracy McGrady and Muffet McGraw.
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Cheryl D. Miller is an American former basketball player. She was formerly a sideline reporter for NBA games on TNT Sports and also works for NBA TV as a reporter and analyst, having worked previously as a sportscaster for ABC Sports, TBS Sports, and ESPN. She was also head coach and general manager of the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury.
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The Associated Press poll provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadcasters from across the nation. Each voter provides their own ranking of the top 25 teams, and the individual rankings are then combined to produce the national ranking by giving a team 25 points for a first place vote, 24 for a second place vote, and so on down to 1 point for a twenty-fifth place vote. Ballots of the voting members in the AP poll are publicized.
Debbie Black is an American women's basketball former player and current coach. During her professional career, Black played for the Women's National Basketball League in Australia, the American Basketball League and the Women's National Basketball Association. She retired from the Connecticut Sun of the WNBA in 2005. Black was an assistant coach for the Ohio State University before being named the head coach of the Eastern Illinois University Women's Basketball team on May 16, 2013, in which position she continued until 2017.
Charlaine Vivian Stringer is an American former basketball coach. She holds one of the best coaching records in the history of women's basketball. She was the head coach of the Rutgers University women's basketball team from 1995 until her retirement in 2022.
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Phyllis Holmes was a longtime basketball coach for Greenville College in Greenville, Illinois. She also served as a women's Olympic assistant coach for USA Basketball.
Lidiya Vladimirovna Alekseyeva was a Russian basketball player and coach. Alekseyeva was born in Moscow. Alekseyeva was inducted into the inaugural class of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999. She was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2007. On 24 February 2012, Alekseyeva was announced as a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2012; she was formally inducted on 7 September.
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The Mel Greenberg Media Award, named after Women's Basketball Hall of Fame Legend Mel Greenberg, is presented annually by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) to "a member of the media who has best displayed a commitment to women’s basketball and to advancing the role of the media in the women’s game".
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A single human poll represents the 1976–77 AIAW Division I women's basketball rankings, the AP Poll, in addition to various publications' preseason polls. The women's basketball poll began during the 1976–1977 season, and was initially compiled by Mel Greenberg and published by The Philadelphia Inquirer. At first, it was a poll of coaches conducted via telephone, where coaches identified top teams and a list of the Top 20 team was produced. The initial list of coaches did not include Pat Summitt, who asked to join the group, not to improve her rankings, but because of the lack of media coverage, Summitt believed it would be a good way to stay on top of who the top teams were outside of her own schedule. The contributors continued to be coaches until 1994, when the AP took over administration of the poll from Greenberg, and switched to a panel of writers.
Two human polls make up the 2022–23 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings, the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll, in addition to various publications' preseason polls.
M.A. Voepel is an American sportswriter. He has reported on women's sports for ESPN since 1996 and has been described by the company as "the foremost authority on women's basketball".