Jake Wade Award
Presented annually to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution in the media to the field of intercollegiate athletics. Voted on by the Special Awards Committee. Nominee must be a member of the media.
Jake Wade was a widely acclaimed sports journalist and national magazine contributor for Charlotte Observer for 16 years and later served as sports information director at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill from 1946-62. A 1923 UNC graduate, Wade was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 1992. He died in 1962.
Jake Wade Award Recipients
| Year | Recipient |
|---|---|
| 2026 | Kirk Herbstreit – ESPN |
| 2025 | Craig Silver – CBS Sports |
| 2024 | Bill Raftery – CBS Sports/FOX Sports/ESPN |
| 2023 | Debbie Antonelli – Basketball Analyst / Women's Basketball HOF |
| 2022 | Dick Weiss – Blue Star Media |
| 2021 | Gus Johnson – Fox Sports |
| 2020 | Ivan Maisel – ESPN.com |
| 2019 | Holly Rowe – ESPN |
| 2018 | Jim Nantz – CBS Sports |
| 2017 | Michelle Smith McDonald – espnW, ESPN.com, San Francisco Chronicle and Examiner, Bleacher Report |
| 2016 | Rece Davis – ESPN |
| 2015 | Verne Lundquist – CBS Sports, ABC Sports, Dallas Cowboy Radio |
| 2014 | Beth Mowins – ESPN |
| 2013 | Pat Coleman – D3sports.com |
| 2012 | Malcolm Moran – Penn State Knight Chair in Sports Journalism and Society; USA Today; New York Times; Newsday; Chicago Tribune |
| 2011 | Lee Corso – ABC/ESPN Sports |
| 2010 | Pam Ward – ESPN Sports |
| 2009 | Tim Brando – CBS Sports |
| 2008 | Billy Packer – CBS Sports |
| 2007 | Steve Scheer – CBS Sports |
| 2006 | Tony Barnhart – Atlanta Journal-Constitution |
| 2005 | Mel Greenberg – Philadelphia Inquirer |
| 2004 | Bill Nichols – Cleveland Plain Dealer |
| 2003 | Christine Brennan – USA Today |
| 2002 | Robin Roberts – ESPN |
| 2001 | Dick Vitale – ESPN |
| 2000 | Bill Wallace – New York Times |
| 1999 | Dan Jenkins – Golf Digest |
| 1998 | Steve Wieberg – USA Today |
| 1997 | Ron Franklin – ESPN |
| 1996 | Bob Hammel – Bloomington Herald-Times |
| 1995 | Bob Brill – Durham Herald-Sun |
| 1994 | Jim Simpson – ESPN |
| 1993 | Sid Hartman – Minneapolis Star-Tribune |
| 1992 | Dave Anderson – New York Times |
| 1991 | Bob Hentzen – Topeka Capital-Journal |
| 1990 | Bob Monahan – Boston Globe |
| 1989 | Dick Enberg – NBC-TV |
| 1988 | John Bibb – Nashville Tennessean |
| 1987 | Rosa Gatti – ESPN |
| 1986 | Dave Campbell – Waco Tribune-Herald |
| 1985 | Kaye Kessler – Columbus Citizen-Journal |
| 1984 | Bill Jauss – Chicago Tribune |
| 1983 | Gordon White – New York Times |
| 1982 | Herschel Nissenson – Associated Press |
| 1981 | Frank Boggs – Colorado Springs Gazette |
| 1980 | Blackie Sherrod – Dallas Times-Herald |
| 1979 | Furman Bisher – Atlanta Journal |
| 1978 | Keith Jackson – ABC-TV |
| 1977 | Maury White – Des Moines Register |
| 1976 | Si Burick – Dayton Daily News |
| 1975 | Tom Woodward – Knoxville Sentinel |
| 1974 | Volney Meece – Oklahoma City Times |
| 1973 | Dick Herbert – Raleigh News-Observer |
| 1972 | John Mooney – Salt Lake City Tribune |
| 1971 | Arnie Burdick – Syracuse Herlad/Journal |
| 1970 | Ed Schneider – Chicago Today |
| 1969 | Ray Johnson – Nashville Tennessean |
| 1968 | Paul Zimmerman – Los Angeles Times |
| 1967 | Francis Wallace – New York sportswriter |
| 1966 | Fred Russell – Nashville Banner |
| 1965 | Lindsey Nelson – NBC-TV |
| 1964 | Dave Condon – Chicago Tribune |
| 1963 | Wilfred Smith – Chicago Tribune |
| 1962 | Abe Chanin – Collegiate Baseball |
| 1961 | Bill Schroeder – Helms Hall of Fame |
| 1960 | Stanley Woodward – New York Herald Tribune/Newark Star Ledger |
| 1959 | Homer F. Cooke – NCAA |
| 1958 | Bert McGrane – Des Moines Register |