| 1978 |
Edgar Allen, Nashville Banner |
| 1979 |
Sam Skinner, Skinner Sports Syndicate |
| 1980 |
Dave Dorr, St. Louis Post-Dispatch |
| 1981 |
Bill Brill, Roanoke Times/World News |
| 1982 |
Frank Boggs, Colorado Springs Sun |
| 1983 |
Bob Hammel, Bloomington Herald-Telegram |
| 1984 |
Marvin West, Knoxville News-Sentinel |
| 1985 |
Lee Benson, Salt Lake City Deseret News |
| 1986 |
Bill Millsaps, Richmond Times Dispatch |
| 1987 |
Larry Donald, Basketball Times |
| 1988 |
Larry Donald, Basketball Times |
| 1989 |
Malcolm Moran, New York Times |
| 1990 |
Gary Nuhn, Dayton Daily News |
| 1991 |
Randy Riggs, Austin American-Statesman |
| 1992 |
John Feinstein, Washington Post |
| 1993 |
Bud Withers, Seattle Post Intelligencer |
| 1994 |
Dick Weiss, New York Daily News |
| 1995 |
Wendell Barnhouse, Ft. Worth Star-Telegram |
| 1996 |
Mike DeCourcy, Memphis Commercial Appeal |
| 1997 |
Steve Wieberg, USA Today |
| 1998 |
Jim O'Connell, Associated Press |
| 1999 |
Bill Benner, Indianapolis Star |
| 2000 |
Alex Wolff, Sports Illustrated |
| 2001 |
Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star |
| 2002 |
Bob Ryan, Boston Globe |
| 2003 |
Steve Richardson, Dallas Morning News |
| 2004 |
Rick Bozich, Louisville Courier Journal |
| 2005 |
Robyn Norwood, Los Angeles Times |
| 2006 |
Tony Barnhart, Atlanta Journal-Constitution |
| 2007 |
Tom Shatel, Omaha World Herald |
| 2008 |
Andy Katz, ESPN |
| 2009 |
Dick Jerardi, Philadelphia Daily News |
| 2010 |
Steve Carp, Las Vegas Review-Journal |