NCBWA Russell D. Anderson/Wilbur Snypp Award
The plaque memorializes longtime Ohio State Sports Information Director and NCBWA founder, the late Wilbur (Bill) Snypp. Snypp was a noted contributor to the writers' organization, which was initiated in 1962, as well as an officer in the group. Since 1975, the Wilbur Snypp Award has honored a professional for contributions to the sport of college baseball. As of 2021, the award also memorializes the cherished Russell D. Anderson – treasurer and associate executive director for the NCBWA for three decades from 1996-2021 before passing away April 5, 2021. Anderson was awarded the top honor given by the NCBWA in 2002 for his sterling efforts.
Voting is conducted by a panel of previous winners, who include past NCAA College World Series directors, College Sports Information Directors of America Hall of Fame members, decorated media members, and others.
April 15, 2021: NCBWA honors the late Russ Anderson by adding his name to its service award
2023 Recipient: Ryan Bomberger
Bomberger has been the baseball SID at Liberty since 2004 and has put in countless hours towards publicizing and advancing college baseball. He has volunteered his time with the NCBWA since 2005 before earning a spot on the board of directors in 2007.
2022 Recipient: John Cox
Cox has been director of sports broadcasting at USM since 1979 and is a legend in the world of college broadcasting. He started his career at USM as play-by-play broadcaster for Golden Eagles football, basketball and baseball along with duties as assistant media relations director in athletics to the late Ace Cleveland.
2021 Recipient: Kevin Kugler
The Nebraska native has been busy year round with NCAA football and basketball telecasts as well as the Westwood One Radio Game of the Week in the National Football League. He began daily coverage in broadcasts and sports talk for the NCAA World Series in 2000 and has been part of dozens of historic contests since the series moved to Omaha, Neb., in 1950 – actually before his birth. During his days with SportsTalk Radio 1620 in Omaha, he was onsite virtually every day with live remote coverage and guests from all walks of college baseball life.
2020 Recipient: Malcolm Gray
Malcolm Gray, a regular staff member at the NCAA Baseball World Series, longtime NCBWA officer/board member and president of NCBWA in 2016-17, has been chosen as the 46th recipient of the prestigious Wilbur Snypp Award, presented annually by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association for outstanding contributions to college baseball. Vital to the organization as co-editor of the annual NCBWA directory with Liberty's Ryan Bomberger, compiler of all-star teams and NCBWA Top 30 poll voter, Gray is a 1996 graduate of East Carolina and has worked as baseball publicist for the Pirates, secondary football media contact and ECU golf contact for 21 years.
| ALL-TIME RUSSELL D. ANDERSON/WILBUR SNYPP AWARD WINNERS | |
| 1975 Wilbur Snypp, Ohio State 1976 Bill Esposito, St. John's 1977 Phil Langan, Cornell 1978 John Geis, Southern Conference 1979 Hank Schomber, Georgia Southern 1980 Bob Culp, Western Michigan 1981 Lou Pavlovich Sr., Collegiate Baseball 1982 Tom Price, South Carolina 1983 Bob Bradley, Clemson 1984 Robert Williams, Omaha World-Herald 1985 Jerry Miles, NCAA 1986 Larry Keefe, Seton Hall 1987 Tom Rowen, San Jose Mercury-News 1988 Fred Gerardi, KESY Radio, Omaha 1989 Jim Wright, NCAA 1990 Steve Weller, SIU-Edwardsville 1991 Bill Little, Texas 1992 Kirk Bohls, Austin American-Statesman 1993 Bo Carter, Southwest Conference 1994 Lou Pavlovich Jr., Collegiate Baseball 1995 Steve Pivovar, Omaha World-Herald 1996 Gary Johnson, NCAA 1997 Dave Wohlhueter, Cornell 1998 Allen Simpson, Baseball America 1999 Alan Cannon, Texas A&M | 2000 Jim Callis, Baseball America 2001 Dick Case, USA Baseball 2002 Russ Anderson, Conference USA 2003 John Manuel, Baseball America 2004 Dana Heiss Grodin, USA Today Sports Weekly 2005 Dennis Poppe, NCAA 2006 Mike Montoro, Southern Miss 2007 Barry Allen, Alabama 2008 Mike Patrick, ESPN 2009 Al Chase, Honolulu Star-Bulletin 2010 Lou Spry, NCAA 2011 Jeremy Mills, ESPN/D1Baseball.com 2012 Eric Olson, Omaha World Herald 2013 J.D. Hamilton, NCAA 2014 John Sullivan, Rice 2015 David Feaster, Dick Howser Trophy 2016 Ralph Zobell, BYU 2017 Aaron Fitt, D1Baseball.com 2018 Kyle Peterson, ESPN 2019 Jim Ellis, Mississippi State 2020 Malcolm Gray, East Carolina 2021 Kevin Kugler, Broadcaster 2022 John Cox, Voice of Southern Miss 2023 Ryan Bomberger, Liberty |