TSWA honors college players of the week - Dec. 15

MEN’S BASKETBALL: Belmont’s Smith earns TSWA Player of the Week honors
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Belmont’s Luke Smith was named the Tennessee Sports Writers Association’s Men’s Basketball Player of the Week, averaging 21.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4.0 steals in two victories for the Bruins.

The Knoxville, Tenn., native made seven 3-pointers and 8-of-15 from the field for 23 points against Tennessee State, adding four boards and three steals. The junior hit five more triples and posted 19 points, three rebounds, four assists and five steals at Lipscomb.

Smith shot 12-of-21 from 3-point range in the two outings and currently ranks second nationally in 3-point field goals and fourth in steals. He leads the OVC in scoring (20.0) among players who have played multiple games.

2020-21 TSWA MEN’S BASKETBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
December 9 – Tavon King, Cumberland University

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: Middle Tennessee’s Hayes garners TSWA Player of the Week
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee’s Anastasia Hayes was voted the Tennessee Sports Writers Association’s Women’s Basketball Player of the Week, registering 27.5 points, 10.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists in two contests for the Blue Raiders.

The Murfreesboro, Tenn., native netted 27 points with six boards and six assists versus Tulane, connecting on 8-of-20 shots overall and 10-for-13 at the foul line. The junior followed that with 28 points, a career-best 14 rebounds and eight helpers at TCU, hitting 10-of-22 field goals and 7-for-9 at the charity stripe.

Hayes is averaging 26.7 points, 8.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists thru three games this season.

2020-21 TSWA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
December 9 – Allissa Mulaski, Bryan College

College players of the week named by TSWA - Dec. 9

MEN’S BASKETBALL: Cumberland’s King earns TSWA Player of the Week honors
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Cumberland University’s Tavon King was named the Tennessee Sports Writers Association’s Men’s Basketball Player of the Week, averaging 25.5 points in a pair of victories for the Phoenix.

The Gates, Tenn., native netted 17 points and three rebounds against Shawnee State, hitting three 3-pointers in a 68-57 win. The senior guard scored a career-best 34 points in a double overtime triumph versus the University of Pikeville, adding three boards, two assists and three steals.

King registered seven straight points in the first overtime and he collected the final six points of the contest as well, all in the last two minutes. He is averaging 21.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game this season.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: Bryan’s Mulaski garners TSWA Player of the Week
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Bryan College’s Allissa Mulaski was voted the Tennessee Sports Writers Association’s Women’s Basketball Player of the Week, posting 19.5 points and 2.5 rebounds in two wins for the Lions.

The Lebanon, Tenn., native recorded 25 points with seven 3-pointers at Brenau University, including six in the first half and four in the second quarter. The freshman guard followed that with 14 points at Columbia International, adding four more triples.

Mulaski is netting 11.4 points in five games while shooting 54 percent (15-for-28) from behind the arc.

TSWA announces 2021 Hall of Fame class

NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Sports Writers Association announced its Hall of Fame class for 2021 on Thursday, which includes Larry Taft (Nashville), Maurice Patton (Nashville/Columbia) and George Starr (Cleveland). The 2021 induction ceremony is scheduled for July 8 at Cumberland University, with Taft, Patton and Starr joining the Class of 2020 (Tommy Bryan, Teresa Walker, Mark Wiedmer).

MAURICE PATTON, The Tennessean/Columbia Daily Herald
The Franklin native entered sports journalism as a student at Middle Tennessee State University, writing part-time for the (Murfreesboro) Daily News Journal. Patton’s first full-time position came in 1987 as half of a two-person sports department at his hometown newspaper, The Review Appeal. He joined The Tennessean in 1990 covering high schools, the Nashville Sounds (1994-2008), the University of Tennessee (1995-97), MTSU (1997-99), Tennessee State (1999-2006) and Vanderbilt (2006-09). He covered the 1995 College World Series, the 1996 and ’97 Women’s Final Four, the 1997 NBA Draft, the 2000 Super Bowl, numerous SEC men’s and women’s basketball tournaments and three bowl games along with three spring training assignments. He was an Associated Press Top 25 poll voter for football and women’s basketball. He operated a Midstate high school sports website, MoPattonSports.com, for two years before being named sports editor at the Columbia Daily Herald in 2016. Patton is currently editor for Southern Middle Tennessee Sports, a digital platform focused on coverage of local high school athletics, and co-host of the sports talk radio show Southern Middle Tennessee Sports Today. The Tennessee Sports Writers Association's longtime treasurer, he ranks the opportunity to cover all three state wrestling tournaments (2012-14) in which his son participated – placing fourth in the latter two – as one of his career highlights.

GEORGE STARR, Cleveland/Lee University
A native of Athens, Starr began his career as sports editor at the Daily Post Athenian in Athens for four years. He worked as the sports editor at the Cleveland Daily Banner before becoming a sports writer at the Chattanooga Free-Press for four years. Starr returned to the Cleveland Daily Banner for 13 years, first as sports editor before being named managing and executive editors. He went to Lee University in 1997 as sports information director. He has served as the voice of Lee University basketball and baseball programs for 36 years and continued to work at the Banner during many of his years at Lee. He covered eight NCCAA national championships, four consecutive NAIA Women’s Soccer national championships and traveled to Lewiston, Idaho, for eight NAIA World Series. After Lee transitioned from NAIA to NCAA Division II, Starr covered three Gulf South Conference championships as well as deep postseason runs in several other sports. He guided the publicity of Lee’s transition from the NAIA to NCAA Division II in 2012 and produced numerous award-winning NAIA and CoSIDA media guides. In the beginning of the Lee athletic website, Starr directed the content of the website and led efforts to provide live stats and live streaming for all home volleyball, soccer, basketball, baseball and softball games. Starr is a member of the Bradley County Sports Hall of Fame, Lee Athletics Hall of Fame and Greater Chattanooga Sports Hall of Fame.

LARRY TAFT, The Tennessean
Taft has worked for the Knoxville News-Sentinel, The Democrat-Union in Lawrenceburg and The Tennessean, primarily covering high school sports for nearly 40 years. He covered his first boys’ state basketball tournament in 1973 and his first football championship in 1974. In the 1980s, Taft started a weekly football wrap-up complete with district standings used in newspapers statewide. Taft also covered the Nashville Sounds for many years, traveling to cover road games. He served as director of media relations at the TSSAA for 16 months before returning to The Tennessean. Taft was sports editor of The Tennessean for five years before leaving in 2012. He is a 2011 inductee into the TSSAA Hall of Fame as a contributor. He currently is a board member and secretary-treasurer of the College Football Hall of Fame's Middle Tennessee chapter, and earlier this year he was selected by the organization as a recipient of its prestigious Roy Kramer Contribution to Football Award. Larry and his wife, Dinah, have four sons and nine grandchildren.

Winners announced for 2019 TSWA writing contest

NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Sports Writers Association released the winners of the annual writing contest this week. All of the first, second and third-place winners will be recognized during the Hall of Fame dinner and banquet on Thursday, July 11, in Baird Chapel at Cumberland University. Thanks to Ron Higgins for again coordinating the judging for all of the categories in the annual writing contest.

TSWA 2019 WRITING CONTEST RESULTS
Entries were from January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2019

DIVISION I
GARY LUNDY WRITER OF THE YEAR – 1. Erik Bacharach, The Tennessean: Not one weak link in his three-story package. Wrote about three challenging subjects that required some real reporting, investigative work and multiple interviews. Tore down some walls revealing both sides of late Titans quarterback Steve McNair’s less-than-perfect life. 2. Adam Sparks, The Tennessean. 3. Mark Wiedmer, Chattanooga Times-Free Press.

BEST COLUMNIST – 1. John Adams, Knoxville News-Sentinel: Columnists should deliver opinions. They should not straddle the fence. They should avoid writing features and present them as columns. This best columnist winner brings it in every column. He surgically takes apart his subjects. Always delivers with bite, wit and logic. 2. Mark Wiedmer, Chattanooga Times-Free Press. 3. None entered.

BEST FEATURE WRITER – 1. Erik Bacharach, The Tennessean: Fearlessly tackled delicate subjects such as how the Titans thoroughly vetted Jeffery Simmons before drafting him and the double-life of late Titans quarterback Steve McNair. Delivered superbly reported and tightly written features filled with balance and perspective. This was a tough call between the winner of this category and the runner-up. 2. Adam Sparks, The Tennessean. 3. Mark Wiedmer, Chattanooga Times-Free Press.

BEST EVENT WRITER – 1. Adam Sparks, The Tennessean: Clear, concise ledes transitioning into three smoothly written deadline stories, including Vandy’s CWS championship clinching win. This writer did a phenomenal job providing context and background in a story on postgame dust-up between Vandy basketball coach Jerry Stackhouse and an Austin Peay assistant. 2. Mark Wiedmer, Chattanooga Times-Free Press. 3. Teresa M. Walker, Associated Press.

BEST NEWS WRITER – 1. Adam Sparks, The Tennessean: A trio of stories with multi-voices, multi-sources and each story answered every question a reader could imagine. The stories on TD Ameritrade Park officials threatening to toss the Vandy whistler and the unexpected death of Vandy AD David Williams were strong. 2. Teresa M. Walker, Associated Press. 3. None awarded.

Note: There were not enough entries in Division I to judge categories for best section, best special section, prep writer of the year, best investigative series, best individual layout and best outdoor writer.

DIVISION II
GARY LUNDY WRITER OF THE YEAR – 1. Cecil Joyce, Daily News Journal: Had two outstanding features but what separated him from the field was his willingness to tackle an enterprise story on why Tennessee high school athletes don’t have mandated heart screenings. 2. Kevin Weaks, Union City Messenger. 3. Scott Wilson, Cookeville Herald-Citizen.

BEST SECTION – 1. Cleveland Daily Banner: Big, bold color photos dominated this paper’s daily sections that were loaded with staff written stories. These are sections that serve its local readership well. 2. Union City Messenger 3. None awarded.

BEST SPECIAL SECTION – 1. Union City Messenger: Packs a ton of information and stories into separate high school and college sections highlighted by colorful, splashy graphics. It may not be a slick-magazine type entry like others, but substance wins over style. 2. Cookeville Herald-Citizen. 3. Cleveland Daily Banner.

BEST COLUMNIST – 1. Jimmy Hyams, WNML Radio: Love a columnist who takes a clear side in an issue and backs it up with an avalanche of facts and logic. 2. Joe Cannon, Cleveland Daily Banner. 3. None awarded.

BEST FEATURE WRITER – 1. Scott Wilson, Cookeville Herald-Citizen: There is something to be said for the winner in this category who entered three short features. The winner didn’t overwrite them, didn’t over-dramatize them, but he had three good hooks, especially the female high school football player. 2. Cecil Joyce, Daily News Journal 3. Kevin Weaks, Union City Messenger.

BEST EVENT WRITER – 1. Kevin Weaks, Union City Messenger: Short, snappy ledes led to well-organized, stories that told the reader exactly why one team won and why the other lost. Simple, clear, but not boring writing. 2. Cecil Joyce, Daily News Journal. 3. Joe Cannon, Cleveland Daily Banner.

BEST NEWS WRITER – 1. Jimmy Hyams, WNML Radio: Excellent, detailed reporting in each of his three stories. Did a nice job explaining how Rick Barnes was almost hired by UCLA and then about the NCAA’s proposal to take a second look at the graduate transfer rule. 2. Scott Wilson, Cookeville Herald-Citizen. 3. Kevin Weaks, Union City Messenger.

BEST PREP WRITER – 1. Cecil Joyce, Daily News Journal: Easily had the best variety of stories, but the feature on the Oakland High school soccer players from Venezuela was well-written, riveting reading. 2. Kevin Weaks, Union City Messenger. 3. Joe Cannon, Cleveland Daily Banner.

NOTE: Did not have entries to judge best individual layout.

DIVISION III
GARY LUNDY WRITER OF THE YEAR – 1. Jimmy Hyams, WNML Radio: This writer had incredibly strong column on the Jeremy Banks arrest, a solid two-part feature on Tee Martin returning as a Tennessee assistant coach and heartfelt personal column of attending the Cooperstown induction of his former American Legion teammate Lee Smith. 2. Russell Vannozzi, Robertson County Connection (Main Street Media). 3. Charles Pulliam, Williamson Herald.

BEST SPECIAL SECTION – 1. 2019 High School Football Preview, Weakley County Press: Twice as much information as the other entries. Smartly written stories, excellent graphics and the back cover schedule grid was a great idea. 2. 2019 Williamson County Football Preview, Joe Williams. 3. 2019 High School Football Preview, Macon County Times.

BEST FEATURE WRITER – 1. Craig Harris, Macon County Times – Three well-written features on three subjects that didn’t have tragedy, incurable disease or maladies that almost every writer in this category decided to enter. The winner wrote about two lifelong friends who became high school officials, two marathoners who ran 300 marathons in a year and on a high school golf program that produced 10 college golfers in 13 years. 2. Mark McGee, Shelby Times-Gazette. 3. Russell Vannozzi, Robertson County Connection (Main Street Media).

BEST NEWS/EVENT WRITER – 1. Bill Sorrell, West 10 Media: Loved the feature approach angle on all three of the category winner’s event stories. For any non-daily paper, it’s the perfect approach to cover events. Captivating ledes, great context in each story. 2. Russell Vannozzi, Robertson County Connection (Main Street Media) 3. Craig Harris, Macon County Times.

DIVISION IV
BEST FEATURE WRITER – 1. Thomas Corhern, Tennessee Tech Athletics: You could tell how much legwork, care and sheer perfection the winner injects into three unique stories, topped by the former Tech lineman turned singer who appeared on “The Voice”. 2. Chad Bishop, Vanderbilt. 3. Mark McGee, Lipscomb University.

BEST EVENT WRITER – 1. Jimmy Hyams, WNML Radio: Not a big fan of any story – especially event stories – that have too many short choppy paragraphs. It’s like stringing together a bunch of tweets. But the winner compensated with well-organized entries that made sense of the events covered. 2. Michael Wottreng, Carson-Newman University. 3. Lauren Moore, Lincoln Memorial University.

TSWA cancels Hall of Fame dinner

NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Sports Writers Association has canceled its annual Hall of Fame dinner set for July 9 in Baird Chapel on the Cumberland University campus in Lebanon amid continuing concerns about COVID-19 and gatherings of large groups in indoor spaces.

Teresa Walker (Associated Press), Tommy Bryan (Wilson Post) and Mark Wiedmer (Chattanooga Times-Free Press) were scheduled for induction into the TSWA Hall of Fame next month. The organization will elect another class for the Hall of Fame later this summer/early fall and Walker, Bryan and Wiedmer will join those individuals during an induction dinner in summer 2021.