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2023 Special Awards Announcements
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CSC recognizes the following five honorees on day three of our 2023 Special Awards announcements: past president Rob Knox, Thurgood Marshall College Fund (Mary Jo Haverbeck Trailblazer Award); Mike Montoro, West Virginia University (Lester Jordan Award); Jeremy Rosenthal, University of Texas (Bob Kenworthy Community Service Award); Susan Lax, University of Kentucky (Achievement Award - University) and Brandon Hensley, University of the Cumberlands (Achievement Award - College).
by Blake Timm – Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) Assistant Commissioner for Communications // Vice-Chair, College Sports Communicators Special Awards Committee
The recognition of the 2023 College Sports Communicators Special Awards winners continues with the announcement of the organization’s Achievement Awards, Mary Jo Haverback Trailblazer Award, Bob Kenworthy Community Service Award and the Lester Jordan Award.
The Mary Jo Haverbeck Trailblazer Award, which honors an individual who has worked to increase the diversity within the athletic communications profession, is being awarded to CSC past president
Rob Knox, senior director of strategic communications at the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.
The Achievement Awards, honoring excellence among professionals who have been career-long assistants at their institutions, are being awarded to
Susan Lax, University of Kentucky Director of Athletics Communications and Public Relations (University Division) and
Brandon Hensley, University of the Cumberlands Director of Athletic Video Operations (College Division).
Jeremy Rosenthal, University of Texas associate athletic communications director, is the recipient of the Bob Kenworthy Community Service Award which honors members who have demonstrated civic involvement and community service both inside and outside of the profession.
Mike Montoro of West Virginia University will be the recipient of the Lester Jordan Award, honoring exemplary service to the CSC Academic All-America Program. Montoro is the Mountaineers’ Assistant Athletics Director/Football Communications.
The five awards, along with the rest of the CSC’s annual awards, will be presented during the annual CSC Convention, CSC Unite 23, which takes place June 11-14 at the Orlando Marriott World Center Resort in Florida.
A closer look at these award winners:
MARY JO HAVERBECK TRAILBLAZER AWARD
Rob Knox – Thurgood Marshall College Fund, Senior Director, Strategic Communications
The 2018-19 president of College Sports Communicators and just the second Black president in the organization’s history,
Rob Knox of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund is the recipient of the 2023 Mary Jo Haverbeck Trailblazer Award.
Through leadership and deed, Knox has been a trailblazer and advocate for both Blacks and women within college athletics. Knox’s career in athletic communications spanned 17 years with stops at UNC Greensboro (associate athletic director for strategic communications, 2020-22), Towson (associate director for media relations, 2015-20), Coppin State (sports information director, 2013-15), Kutztown University (sports information director, 2009-11) and his alma mater, Lincoln University (sports information director, 2004-09).
Knox currently serves on the Minority Opportunities Athletic Association (MOAA) board of directors, and his term on the NACDA affiliate runs through 2024.
In 2022, Knox was named an NCAA Champion of Diversity and Inclusion, the only CSC member to have earned the honor. This award honors individuals who display a commitment to advocating and advancing ethnic minorities and other underrepresented populations that goes beyond their profession.
During his UNCG tenure, Knox was named a 2021 Southern Conference Trailblazer honorable mention selection, one of five from UNCG recognized by the conference.
As CSC president, Knox worked to pass a resolution that guaranteed that two members from the organization attend the annual NCAA Inclusion Forum. At the same time, Knox joined the board of directors of the Minority Opportunities Athletic Association (MOAA) to advocate for minorities and women of color in the industry.
During his time in the athletic communications industry, Knox has mentored numerous ethnic minorities and underrepresented professionals who have moved on to distinguished careers in college and professional sports.
Knox currently serves on the CSC Special Awards Committee and also served as part of the branding working group that helped develop CSC’s new name and identity. He previously served as an at-large representative on the CSC Board of Directors (2009-11) and was on the first CSC executive director search committee. From 2009-11, Knox served as president of the Black College Sports Information Directors Association (BCSIDA).
Knox received the CSC University Division Rising Star Award in 2011 and is the recipient of four Fred Stabley, Sr., Writing Contest awards for his storytelling.
He was named to the Lincoln University Hall of Fame in 2015 for his work as sports information director and received Lincoln’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2017. He was a 2019 inductee into the Chester (Pa.) High School Athletic of Fame as part of the school’s 1988-89 state championship boys’ basketball team.
In addition to his work within the college athletics space, Knox is a frequent contributor to various publications covering college women’s basketball and the WNBA. He also is a freelance writer and storyteller under the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Digital Network umbrella.
Mary Jo Haverbeck Trailblazer Award
Voted upon by the Special Awards Committee, the Mary Jo Haverbeck Trailblazer Award is presented annually to an individual who is a pioneer in the field of athletic communications who has mentored and helped improve the level of diversity within College Sports Communicators.
LESTER JORDAN AWARD
Mike Montoro – West Virginia University, Assistant Athletics Director/Football Communications
One of the longest-serving members of the Academic All-America Core Committee,
Mike Montoro of West Virginia University has been selected as the recipient of the 2023 Lester Jordan Award.
A 35-year veteran of the athletic communications field, Montoro joined the West Virginia athletic communications office in 2007 as director of football communications. He was promoted to assistant athletic director/football communications in July 2021.
For 27 of those 35 years, Montoro has served the Academic All-America Committee in a variety of capacities. He is in his 11th year as a national coordinator for the program, overseeing Division I football and men’s and women’s track and field/cross country. He previously oversaw the Division I men’s at-large program.
Montoro first joined the Academic All-America Committee in 1995 during his tenure as sports information director at Liberty University.
In addition to his work with the Academic All-America Committee, Montoro is a member of the CSC Mentorship Committee and has been on the executive board of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association since 2002. He currently serves as the organization’s executive associate director.
For his work in football communications, Montoro was part of the WVU communications staff receiving "Super 11" distinction by the Football Writers Association of America. The award honors departments and individuals who go above and beyond in getting their job done and were nominated by FWAA media members. by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA)
Montoro was honored with the National Collegiate Basketball Writers Association's (NCBWA) Wilbur Snypp Award in 2006, honoring outstanding contributions to college baseball, and was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame at Liberty in 1988. Montoro received his CSC 25-Year Award in 2015.
Lester Jordan Award
Named after the program’s founder, the Lester Jordan Award is presented to an individual for exemplary service to the Academic All-America Program and the promotion of the ideals of being a student-athlete. Nominations are solicited by and voted upon by the Academic All-America Core Committee.
BOB KENWORTHY COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD
Jeremy Rosenthal – University of Texas, Associate Director of Athletic Communications
Jeremy Rosenthal, a 13-year veteran of the profession who is in his first year as the associate director of communications at the University of Texas, is the recipient of the 2023 Bob Kenworthy Community Service Award.
Rosenthal has made service a hallmark of his professional career and his involvement with CSC. A member of the Goodwill & Wellness Committee since 2011, Rosenthal has chaired the committee since 2021, continuing the work that the committee has done to provide a community service presence whenever the CSC Convention is held.
Rosenthal is best known as the director of the annual CSC/NACDA 5k run/walk conducted at CSC Convention, which he transformed from a small part of the convention’s social schedule to a major event with nearly 300 participants in 2022. Since taking over as race director, the event has raised nearly $35,000 for charities in the communities where the CSC Convention takes place in. In 2022, the run raised over $8,000 for the Three Square Food Bank in Las Vegas.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Rosenthal developed the concept of the CSC Fitness Challenge as a way to not only help members achieve their fitness and health goals but to also provide a way for professionals to connect. The challenge continues to provide CSC members motivation and accountability.
During his eight years as athletic media relations director at the University of Indiana, Rosenthal served as a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, the Hoosier Hills Food Bank and the Boys and Girls Club. He also participated in Hoosiers Outrun Cancer, which raised money for cancer research.
Prior to his eight years (2013-2022) at Indiana, Rosenthal spent two years as the assistant director of athletics communications at the College of Charleston.
Rosenthal received CSC’s University Division Rising Star Award in 2019 and was a district winner in the 2013 Fred Stabley, Sr., Writing Contest. In 2015, Rosenthal was named as the Division I Northeast Region honoree for the Grant Burger Media Award from the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
Rosenthal has volunteered for the media operations staff for seven NCAA Division I Women’s Final Fours as well as the 2012 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials and the 2012 PGA Championship.
Bob Kenworthy Community Service Award
Voted upon by the CSC Special Awards Committee, the Bob Kenworthy Community Service is presented annually to a CSC member for civic involvement, community service and accomplishments both within and outside the athletic communications profession.
ACHIEVEMENT AWARD, UNIVERSITY DIVISION
Susan Lax – University of Kentucky, Director of Athletics Communications and Public Relations
A long time mainstay in the University of Kentucky’s athletic communications office and one of just a few females at the Division I-FCS level to serve as a primary contact for football,
Susan Lax is the recipient of the University Division CSC Achievement Award.
Lax joined Kentucky as an assistant media relations director in 1997 after two years as the assistant media relations director at Murray State University. She was promoted to associate media relations director in 2001 and to director of athletics communications and public relations in 2018, a role overseen by the university’s assistant athletic director for athletic communications and public relations (Tony Neeley), who heads all communications efforts.
Lax has been honored twice by the Football Writers Association of America with its Super 11 Award, honoring the top-11 media relations operations in college football, most recently in 2020.
“Slax” has been a reliable storyteller with every Kentucky program she has worked with, helping promote Wildcats’ student-athletes to such national honors as the Bronko Nagurski Award, Chuck Bednarik Award, Paul Hornung Award, Ronnie Lott Trophy, Mayo Clinic Comeback Player of the Year, CSC Academic All-America, and many others.
Lax has won several CSC Creative and Digital Design awards (formerly Publication & Digital Design), receiving two “Best In The Nation” awards for her women’s basketball media guides in 2009 and 2010 and a “Second In The Nation” honor for her 2017 postseason media guide while covering Kentucky’s appearance in the Music City Bowl.
Lax was a three-year letterwinner for the Freed-Hardeman University women’s tennis team where she graduated in 1995 with a bachelor’s degree in communications with an emphasis in public relations.
Achievement Award
Voted upon by the CSC Special Awards Committee, the CSC Achievement Awards are presented annually to one University Division member and one College Division member who have made outstanding contributions to the field of athletic communications and provided exceptional service to their institution, conference or other intercollegiate athletics affiliated association. A nominee must have 10 or more years of experience in the athletic communications field and must not have served in the lead role overseeing an athletic communications office. This award is designed for an individual who has not been a recipient of any CSC major award in their careers (such as Warren Berg, Arch Ward or Hall of Fame).
ACHIEVEMENT AWARD, COLLEGE DIVISION
Brandon Hensley – University of the Cumberlands, Assistant Sports Information Director
Now in his 11th year as the assistant sports information director and director of athletic video operations at the University of the Cumberlands,
Brandon Hensley joins his supervisor, Tommy Chasanoff, as a 2023 CSC award winner. Hensely is recipient of the CSC Achievement Award in the college division. (Chasanoff was one of two 2023 CSC Rising Star honorees in the college division).
Hensley joined the Cumberlands staff in 2009 after three years as sports director at WYMT-TV in Hazard, Kentucky. In his role as director of athletic video operations, Hensley oversees the live streaming of an average of 175 home events each academic year. He also lends his play-by-play voice to Patriots’ basketball and baseball on the UC Sports Network.
Since arriving at Cumberlands, Hensley has helped the Patriots earn 67 NAIA-SIDA publication awards. The awards include a “Best In The Nation” honor in the season/game recap category each of the last three years. His submissions in that category swept first through third place in 2019.
In 2021, Hensley was part of a Cumberlands staff that earned the NAIA Gary Spitler Excellence in Publication Award, honoring overall excellence in publications and digital media.
At the national level, Hensley helped create and produce the NAIA Plays of the Week video series, overseeing it from 2018 to 2020. He has also served on the NAIA-SIDA Publication Committee for the last three years as well as the NAIA Branding Committee.
Achievement Award
Voted upon by the CSC Special Awards Committee, the CSC Achievement Awards are presented annually to one University Division member and one College Division member who have made outstanding contributions to the field of athletic communications and provided exceptional service to their institution, conference or other intercollegiate athletics affiliated association. A nominee must have 10 or more years of experience in the athletic communications field and must not have served in the lead role overseeing an athletic communications office. This award is designed for an individual who has not been a recipient of any CSC major award in their careers (such as Warren Berg, Arch Ward or Hall of Fame).