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The 2018 CoSIDA Special Awards will be announced throughout the week of Feb. 26-March 2, with nearly 50 recipients selected for recognition.
2018 Special Awards Announcement Schedule
Nantz is the 2018 recipient of CoSIDA’s highest media honor, the Jake Wade Award, while MCleary will receive the 2018 Keith Jackson Eternal Flame Award for her contributions to intercollegiate athletics and supporting CoSIDA’s mission. Both awards will be presented at the 2018 CoSIDA Convention on June 28.
Jim Nantz, long-time CBS Sports award-winning commentator, and
Louise McCleary, NCAA Managing Director of Division III, are 2018 recipients of two of the highest honors presented by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
In recognition of their collegiate and professional achievements and work with CoSIDA and its members, Nantz will receive the 2018 Jake Wade Award, presented annually to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution in the media to the field of intercollegiate athletics while McCleary will receive the 2018 Keith Jackson Eternal Flame Award as one of CoSIDA’s most ardent and effective advocates. The Keith Jackson honor is given to an individual who has made a lasting contribution of excellence to intercollegiate athletics and has been a loyal supporter of CoSIDA and its mission.
CoSIDA is comprised of more than 3,000 intercollegiate athletic communications and media relations professionals from colleges, universities and athletic conferences at all divisions of competition in the United States and Canada.
Both these awards will be presented on June 28 during CoSIDA's annual convention in National Harbor, Maryland. The CoSIDA event takes place at the Gaylord National Resort and Conference Center in conjunction with NACDA and Affiliates Convention Week.
“The Keith Jackson and Jake Wade Awards are two of the highest external honors CoSIDA presents each year,” noted Rob Carolla, CoSIDA President and Director of Communications for the College Football 150
th Anniversary.
“CoSIDA members in Division III have no better advocate than Louise McCleary and she is a great friend of everyone in our organization. Jim Nantz is one of the most iconic voices in sports history and his efforts in telling the stories of the student-athletes, coaches and programs our members work with cannot be understated.”
The lead CBS/Turner Sports 2017 NCAA Men's Basketball
Championship Tournament broadcasting crew: play-by-play
announcer Jim Nantz (left) and color analysts Grant Hill (center)
and Bill Raftery (right).
Nantz, a three-time Emmy Award winner and five-time National Sportscaster of the Year, has covered virtually every sport for the CBS Television Network since joining it in 1985. As CBS Sports’ lead play-by-play announcer, Nantz's myriad of assignments include NCAA basketball and football, the NFL and the PGA Tour.
Last year marked Nantz’s 32nd covering the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship and Final Four. He has called play-by-play on more network broadcasts of the Final Four and Championship game than any other announcer in the tournament's history.
In 2007 Nantz became the first commentator in history to complete the rare broadcasting three-feat – calling the Super Bowl, the NCAA Men’s Final Four and the Masters Golf Tournament all in a span of 63 days. In 2010, 2013 and 2016 he repeated the rare broadcasting accomplishment.
“There isn’t a group in the industry I respect more than the sports information directors,” Nantz stated. “They are tireless, selfless individuals who have not only helped me professionally for over 30 years but in many cases have become dear and trusted friends. I’m thrilled to receive the Jake Wade Award and will consider it one of the greatest honors of my career.”
“By any measure, Jim Nantz is one of the premier broadcast talents of our time,” stated Doug Vance, CoSIDA Executive Director. “The Jake Wade Award is presented annually to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution in the field of intercollegiate athletics and it would be difficult to find someone more deserving than Jim Nantz.”
McCleary has had a major influence on the CoSIDA convention
programming for Division III members, instituting the concept of
"Division III Day."
McCleary has been instrumental in promoting the role of athletic communications professionals at the Division III level. She works with Division III Vice President Dan Dutcher in overseeing the division's governance committee structure (particularly the Presidents and Management Councils), developing and implementing the division's strategic plan and managing the division's operating budget, among other assignments.
McCleary has had major influence on the CoSIDA convention professional development programming for Division III members, instituting the concept of “Division III Day,” several years ago. That concept has expanded to all divisions of college athletics and at its annual Convention, CoSIDA manages “divisional day” professional development programming for NCAA Division I, II, III along with specific programming geared toward NAIA, NJCAA and U Sports members.
Additionally, McCleary was instrumental in establishing a scholarship grant program for D3 convention attendees and has created a leadership program for students to attend the CoSIDA convention. The NCAA Division III, through McCleary’s efforts, also presents national recognition to D3 sports information directors via the NCAA Division III and D3SIDA Recognition Awards, selecting SIDs for outstanding communications/media relations work as they portray the Division III identity and student-athlete experience .
“Simply stated, CoSIDA has no better friend or advocate than Louise McCleary. She has consistently demonstrated strong support for our NCAA Division III members by being a proponent of initiatives at the national level that are impactful of our profession,” noted Vance.
“I am honored, humbled and thrilled to be honored with the 2018 CoSIDA Keith Jackson Eternal Flame Award,” McCleary said. “The past several years, I have had the privilege to work closely with CoSIDA, and specifically the D3SIDA leadership, to provide more professional development opportunities and exposure for Division III sports information and athletics communication directors. I look forward to future collaboration, initiatives and programming.”
In addition to the Jake Wade and Keith Jackson awards, other honors presented during the 2018 CoSIDA Convention will CoSIDA Hall of Fame inductions and awards recognizing emerging leaders, community service, lifetime achievement and 25-Year service honors.
Here’s a closer look at these CoSIDA Special Award recipients.
Emmy-Winning Broadcaster Jim Nantz: Jake Wade Award Recipient
The multi-Emmy Award winner and National Sportscaster of the Year honoree Nantz has covered virtually every sport for the CBS Television Network in his 33-year career at the network. In addition to being the lead play-by-play announcer for the Network’s NFL and college basketball games, Nantz has anchored CBS’s golf coverage since 1994 after joining the CBS Sports golf broadcasting team eight years prior.
He has been the lead play-by-play voice for The NFL on CBS since 2004. In 2017, Nantz teamed with Tony Romo, and Tracy Wolfson as the lead NFL announce team calling the Network’s top game each week, as well as Thursday Night Football. Prior to 2017, for 13 seasons, Nantz teamed with Phil Simms on CBS’ number one NFL and Super Bowl announce team.
Nantz has been honored by numerous sports organizations for his dedication to, and excellence in broadcasting. He was honored in 2002 by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as its youngest recipient of the Curt Gowdy Media Award. In August 2011, he became the youngest recipient of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award. With these two honors, Nantz joined Dick Enberg and Curt Gowdy as the only broadcasters to receive both Pro Football and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame honors. In June 2013 he received the Court of Honor Award from the National Association of Basketball Coaches Foundation for profession excellence and exhibiting the highest standards of leadership.
Nantz joins a distinguished list of
previous Jake Wade Award winners which include Rece Davis, ESPN; Verne Lundquist (CBS); Beth Mowins (ESPN); Lee Corso (ABC/ESPN); Tim Brando (CBS); Christine Brennan (USA Today); Robin Roberts (ABC/ESPN); Dave Anderson (New York Times); and the late legendary broadcaster and CoSIDA Academic All-America program ambassador Dick Enberg.
Majoring in radio/television, Nantz is a 1981 University of Houston graduate where he was recruited as a member of the golf team. He received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from his alma mater in May 2001 in recognition of his contributions to his profession and to the university.
In January 2011, Nantz returned to his adopted hometown of Houston to team with Houston Methodist Hospital to create the Nantz National Alzheimer Center (NNAC). The NNAC is dedicated to funding innovative diagnostic discoveries for early and accurate detection of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementing illnesses in hopes of one day finding a cure (
www.nantzfriends.org).
CoSIDA Advocate Louise McCleary: Keith Jackson Eternal Flame Award Recipient
In her current role at the NCAA, Keith Jackson Award recipient McCleary works with all 450 Division III schools and 43 conference offices. She joined the NCAA national office as the director of Division III in early February 2012. In September of 2017, she was promoted to Managing Director of Division III where she assists Vice President Dan Dutcher in the governance process of Division III. She has specific responsibilities to the NCAA Division III Management Council, Convention Planning Committee and Strategic Planning and Finance Committee while supporting D3 diversity and inclusion initiatives and programming.
The Keith Jackson Award is one of CoSIDA’s most distinguished awards. Previous recipients have included Bill Hancock (College Football Playoff, 2016), Erik Christianson (NCAA, 2015), Pat Summit (University of Tennessee, 2013), Myles Brand (NCAA President, 2009) and inaugural winner Keith Jackson (ABC Sports,1998).
A 26-year veteran in athletics administration, including 15 years at Division III institutions, McCleary served as Director of Athletics at Elms College for a decade prior to current NCAA position. Prior to Elms, she was associate athletics director and then interim AD at Vassar College. With a deep connection to the sports information field, she worked at Trine University from 1991 to 1997, serving as an assistant basketball coach, sports information director and assistant AD. She also was an assistant basketball coach at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, for two years and at her alma mater Wellesley College for one.
McCleary has a bachelor of arts degree in political science and American studies from Wellesley College and a master's in sport management from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. As an undergraduate at Wellesley, she was a three-sport student-athlete in volleyball, basketball and lacrosse.