INDIANAPOLIS (USBWA) – Brendan Marks of The Athletic, who covers national college basketball, has been named the winner of the 2025 Rising Star Award by the Men’s Board of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.
He joins Cal and Stanford beat writer Marisa Ingemi of the San Francisco Chronicle, who has won the women's Rising Star Award and will be honored at the Women's Final Four in Tampa next month.
A 2017 graduate of the University of North Carolina where he was a four-year staff writer for The Daily Tar Heel, the 29-year-old Marks has worked at The Athletic since 2019 after covering the Carolina Panthers as the primary beat writer for the Charlotte Observer. In 2023, he was named North Carolina Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. At The Athletic, his coverage of college basketball includes columns, enterprise and game stories with an emphasis on coverage of Duke, North Carolina and the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Rising Star Award, created in 2010, recognizes journalistic excellence by reporters who are under 30 years of age. Starting in 2022, awards have been presented for coverage of men’s and women’s basketball. Previous winners include Dan Wolken, Myron Medcalf, Eamonn Brennan, Nicole Auerbach, Mirin Fader and John Fanta. Marks is the fourth staffer from The Athletic to earn the honor.
Marks has also been recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors and the North Carolina Press Association, including earning the Walter Spearman Award for Outstanding Writing by a reporter with two or less years experience.
“The list of past Rising Star recipients is littered with some of the best reporters covering college basketball – many of whom I’ve grown up reading and watching – and its hard to believe my name will be in their company," Marks said as he prepares for tonight's ACC Tournament semifinal between the Blue Devils and Tar Heels. "This is a tremendous honor, and I’m incredibly grateful to my peers, and anyone who has read my work, for their support.”
Marks will be presented with the award at the USBWA’s annual luncheon at the NCAA Men's Final Four in San Antonio, Texas. More details about the event will be available soon.
USBWA RISING STAR AWARD WINNERS
2010: Dan Wolken, The Commercial Appeal
2011: Kevin Armstrong, New York Daily News
2012: Stave Yanda, Washington Post
2013: Myron Medcalf, ESPN.com
2014: Eamonn Brennan, ESPN.com
2015: Michael Cohen, The Commercial Appeal
2016: Laura Keely, Raleigh News & Observer
2017: Devin Gardner, Sports Illustrated
2018: Nicole Auerbach, The Athletic
2019: Sam Vecenie, The Athletic
2020: Chris Heady, Omaha World-Herald
2021: Mirin Fader, The Ringer
2022: Bennett Durando, Montgomery Advertiser
2023: Joel Lorenzi, Omaha World Herald
2024: John Fanta, FOX Sports
2025: Brendan Marks, The Athletic