The United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) was founded in 1956 with the urging of National Collegiate Athletic Association director Walter Byers to serve the interests of journalists who cover college basketball. [1]
The United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) was founded in 1956 with the urging of National Collegiate Athletic Association director Walter Byers to serve the interests of journalists who cover college basketball. [1]
The USBWA annually awards college scholarships to students pursuing careers in sports journalism and to children of USBWA members.
The USBWA annually selects a player of the year and All-America teams for both men and women in college basketball. The USBWA men's player of the year award, called the Oscar Robertson Trophy, was first established in 1959 and is considered to be the nation's oldest such award in college basketball. [2] The USBWA also selects a national coach of the year for men and women, with the men's award named after coach Henry Iba. [1] The USBWA also chooses a USBWA National Freshman of the Year in men's and women's basketball.
In addition, the USBWA presents a number of other awards:
USBWA also divides the country into nine districts, naming for each a Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, and an All-District Team. [3]
| District | States |
|---|---|
| I | Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut |
| II | New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, West Virginia |
| III | Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland |
| IV | Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida |
| V | Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin |
| VI | Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota |
| VII | Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana |
| VIII | Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, Montana |
| IX | California, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, Arizona, Alaska |
The USBWA also honors past and current members for career achievements with the USBWA Hall of Fame. [4]
Oscar Palmer Robertson, nicknamed "the Big O", is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Robertson played point guard and was a 12-time All-Star, 11-time member of the All-NBA Team, and one-time winner of the MVP award in 14 seasons. In 1962, he became the first player in NBA history to average a triple-double for a season. In the 1970–71 NBA season, he was a key player on the team that brought the Bucks their first NBA title. His playing career, especially during high school and college, was plagued by racism.
The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur athlete from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-America team for their sport. Some sports will have multiple All-America teams and will list the honorees as members of a first team, second team, or third team. As such, All-America teams are composed of outstanding US amateur players. Individuals falling short of qualifying for the honor may receive All-America honorable mention. The designation is typically used at the collegiate level although, beginning in 1957, high school athletes in football began being honored with All-American status, which then carried-over to other sports like basketball and cross-country running. The selection criteria vary by sport. Athletes at the high school and college level placed on All-America teams are referred to as All-Americans.
Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY). In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award.
The Oscar Robertson Trophy is given out annually to the outstanding men's college basketball player by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). The trophy is considered to be the oldest of its kind and has been given out since 1959.
The National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Kansas City, Missouri, is a hall of fame and museum dedicated to men's college basketball. The museum is an integral portion of the College Basketball Experience created by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), located at the T-Mobile Center. The hall is meant as a complement to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, with a focus strictly on those who have contributed greatly to college basketball.
Andrew Grady Landers is a retired American college basketball coach who was head women's basketball coach at the University of Georgia from 1979 to 2015.
The Henry Iba Award was established in 1959 to recognize the best college basketball coach of the year by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). Five nominees are presented and the individual with the most votes receives the award, which is presented in conjunction with the Final Four. The award is named for Henry Iba, who coached at Oklahoma State from 1934 to 1970. Iba won the NCAA College Championship in 1945 and 1946 and coached the U.S. Olympic Teams to two gold medals in 1964 and 1968. The award is presented at the Oscar Robertson Trophy Breakfast on the Friday before the Final Four.
An All-American team is an honorary sports team composed of the best amateur players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply "All-Americans". Although the honorees generally do not compete together as a unit, the term is used in U.S. team sports to refer to players who are selected by members of the national media. Walter Camp selected the first All-America team in the early days of American football in 1889. The 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans are honorary lists that includes All-American selections from the Associated Press (AP), the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA), the Sporting News (TSN), and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) drawn from the 2008–09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. All selectors choose at least a first and second 5-man team. The NABC, AP and TSN choose third teams, while AP also lists honorable mention selections.
The 2005–06 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team represented Duke University. The head coach was Mike Krzyzewski. The team played its home games in the Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina, and was a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The New Jersey Sports Writers Association (NJSWA) was founded in 1936. The 75th Anniversary Banquet was held on Sunday, January 30, 2011, at The Pines Manor, Edison, New Jersey.
The 2011–12 Big Ten Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2015, followed by the start of the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. The season marked the first season of participation of the Nebraska Cornhuskers men's basketball team in Big Ten competition. With the addition of Nebraska, all teams will play seven other teams twice and four teams once during the conference schedule, which continues to be 18 games. The season commenced on October 14 when Michigan State and Minnesota celebrated Midnight Madness and three more conference schools hosted events on the 15th. For the fifth consecutive season, all conference games were broadcast nationally with eight aired by CBS Sports, 36 carried by the ESPN Inc. family of networks including ESPN and ESPN2, while 64 games were carried by the Big Ten Network. The conference led the nation in attendance for the 36th consecutive season.
The 2012–13 Big Ten men's basketball season began with practices in October 2012, followed by the start of the 2012–13 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play began in early-January 2013, and concluded in March with the 2013 Big Ten men's basketball tournament at the United Center in Chicago. All conference regular season and tournament games were broadcast nationally. For the 37th consecutive season, the conference led the nation in attendance.
The 2013–14 Big Ten men's basketball season began with practices in October 2013, followed by the start of the 2013–14 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Michigan won the regular season title, but lost to Michigan State in the championship game of the 2014 Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament.
An All-American team is an honorary sports team composed of the best amateur players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply "All-Americans". Although the honorees generally do not compete together as a unit, the term is used in U.S. team sports to refer to players who are selected by members of the national media. Walter Camp selected the first All-America team in the early days of American football in 1889. The 2014 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans are honorary lists that include All-American selections from the Associated Press (AP), the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA), the Sporting News (TSN), and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) for the 2013–14 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. All selectors choose at least a first and second 5-man team. The NABC, TSN and AP choose third teams, while AP also lists honorable mention selections.
The 2014–15 Big Ten men's basketball season began with practices in October 2014, followed by the start of the 2014–15 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. It marked the first season for Rutgers and Maryland in the Big Ten Conference. Wisconsin won the regular season title and the 2015 Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament.
The 2015–16 Big Ten men's basketball season began with practices in October 2015, followed by the start of the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play began in late December and concluded in March, 2016.
The USBWA Most Courageous Awards are two annual basketball awards given by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) to figures associated with college basketball who, according to the organization, have "demonstrated extraordinary courage reflecting honor on the sport of amateur basketball." Since 2012, the women's version of the award has been named the Pat Summitt Most Courageous Award in honor of the legendary Tennessee women's coach who received the award that year. Effective with the 2021 awards, the men's version is known as the Perry Wallace Most Courageous Award in honor of the Vanderbilt player who was the first African-American basketball player in the Southeastern Conference.
An All-American team is an honorary sports team composed of the best amateur players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply "All-Americans". Although the honorees generally do not compete together as a unit, the term is used in U.S. team sports to refer to players who are selected by members of the national media. Walter Camp selected the first All-America team in the early days of American football in 1889. The 2017 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans are honorary lists that include All-American selections from the Associated Press (AP), the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA), the Sporting News (TSN), and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) for the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. All selectors choose at least a first and second 5-man team. The NABC, TSN and AP choose third teams, while AP also lists honorable mention selections.
The 1988–89 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began in November 1988 and ended with the Final Four at the Kingdome in Seattle, Washington on April 3, 1989.
An All-American team is an honorary sports team composed of the best amateur players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply "All-Americans". Although the honorees generally do not compete together as a unit, the term is used in U.S. team sports to refer to players who are selected by members of the national media. Walter Camp selected the first All-America team in the early days of American football in 1889. The 2021 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans are honorary lists that include All-American selections from the Associated Press (AP), the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA), Sporting News (SN), and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) for the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. All selectors choose three teams, while AP also lists honorable mention selections.