| 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 |