FSU's Chuck Walsh Receives U.S. Basketball Writers Award

In his fourth decade as a college basketball sports-information director, Florida State’s Chuck Walsh has been named the U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s Katha Quinn Award winner for 2023. He was presented the award Monday at the Men’s Final Four in Houston.

During the summer of 2020, as the USBWA and CoSIDA (now College Sports Communicators) held discussions on media protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic ahead of the 2020-21 basketball season, Walsh played a key role in negotiating and reinforcing policies supported by the USBWA to retain as much access and availability given the health and safety concerns.

“Chuck’s a throwback who sees his role as facilitating access to his program instead of managing or restricting it,” said USBWA president Luke DeCock, a sports columnist at The (Raleigh, NC) News & Observer. “He’s not only dedicated to his players and coaches but to connecting journalists with his program. He still pitches ideas to writers and cares deeply about those relationships. Everyone knows Florida State is a football school at heart, but you’d never know it talking to Chuck, who makes sure the basketball team gets the attention it deserves.”

The award is presented by the USBWA in memory of Katha Quinn, sports information director at St. John’s University who supervised basketball media services during the 1987 Pan American Games despite a diagnosis of liver cancer. Quinn died at the age of 34, more than two years after the diagnosis. The award is given to recognize those in college basketball who have rendered a special service to the USBWA and sportswriters who cover college basketball.

“I am honored and humbled to be named the 2023 Katha Quinn Award recipient,” Walsh said. “There are a number of reasons this award means so much to me, but perhaps none bigger than when I look at the list of past recipients, I see names from basketball powerhouses like North Carolina, Louisville, UConn, and the Big East Conference and NCAA. Now, Florida State has its place on that list – a testament to the program that Leonard Hamilton and his staff and players have built in Tallahassee.“

The U.S. Basketball Writers Association was formed in 1956 at the urging of then-NCAA Executive Director Walter Byers. With some 900 members worldwide, it is one of the most influential organizations in college basketball. It has selected an All-America team since the 1956-57 season. For more information on the USBWA and its award programs, contact executive director Malcolm Moran at 814-574-1485.

ALL-TIME KATHA QUINN AWARD WINNERS

1988 Katha Quinn, St. John’s University

1991 Marvin “Skeeter” Francis, Atlantic Coast Conference

1992 Tom Frericks, University of Dayton

1993 Roger Valdiserri, University of Notre Dame

1994 Marvin “Swede” Johnson, Coors Brewing Co.

1995 George Raveling, Washington State/USC

1996 Rick Brewer, University of North Carolina

1997 Craig Miller and Amy Early, USA Basketball

1998 Al Shrier, Temple University

1999 Bill Hancock, NCAA

2000 Tim Tolokan, University of Connecticut

2001 Mike Tranghese, Big East Conference

2002 Mark Asher, Washington Post

2003 Jack Watkins, Missouri Valley Conference

2004 Jim Marchiony, NCAA

2005 Steve Kirschner, University of North Carolina

2006 Wayne Duke, Big Ten Conference

2007 Joe Mitch, U.S. Basketball Writers Association

2008 Josh Krulewitz and Mike Soltys, ESPN

2009 John Paquette, Big East Conference

2010 Chris Fallon, National Invitation Tournament

2011 Oliver Pierce, Gonzaga University

2012 Kenny Klein, University of Louisville

2013 Greg Shaheen, NCAA

2014 Brian Morrison, Atlantic Coast Conference

2015 Tom Jernstedt, NCAA

2016 David Worlock, NCAA

2017 Bernie Cafarelli, American Athletic Conference

2018 Joe Castiglione, University of Oklahoma

2019 Mike Sheridan, Villanova University

2020 Jim Haney, NABC

2021 Doug Vance, University of Kansas, CoSIDA

2022 Bill Behrns, Loyola University

2023 Chuck Walsh, Florida State University

*Press release courtesy of Florida State Athletics

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