Seven journalists, one medical professional to be honored on April 27 event
Seven decorated sports journalists and one outstanding physician will be recognized with Virgil Sweet Awards at the 2012 Indiana Basketball Coaches Association annual Spring Clinic in April.
Virgil Sweet Awards are presented to those who have provided meritorious service in the promotion of basketball across Indiana. The award is named in honor of Sweet, the former Valparaiso High School basketball coach and former longtime executive director of the IBCA.
This year's recipients are Dr. John McCarroll of Methodist Sports Medicine as well as seven successful sports journalists -- Curt Cavin of The Indianapolis Star, Al Hamnik of The Times of Northwest Indiana, Greg Jones of the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, Arv Koontz of the Seymour Tribune, Robin Miller of SPEED and NBC Sports, Dick Rea of WTHR-Channel 13 and Pete Swanson of the Princeton Daily Clarion.
Each will be honored during a program on April 27 at Lawrence North High School.
McCarroll, who has been practicing orthopedic medicine for nearly 40 years, is a founding partner of Methodist Sports Medicine/The Orthopedic Specialists. The Ohio native has been the Ben Davis High School team physician for many years and has been an orthopedic consultant to Indiana University athletics for more than 25 years.
Cavin is in his 25th year at The Indianapolis Star. While most noted for coverage of auto racing, he covered high school and college basketball extensively in the 1990s and long has had a passion for the sport.
Hamnik is in his 42nd year as a sports journalist, the past 18 at The Times of Northwest Indiana. He has covered eight boys basketball state finals and many basketball figures and events over the years during his tenure at the Times and previously at the Gary Post-Tribune.
Jones has excelled as a writer for more than two decades, the past 13 years at the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette. The Peru High School graduate previously worked for the Logansport Pharos-Tribune and the Warsaw Times-Union.
Koontz has been a fixture for 40 years for the Seymour Tribune and Jackson County Banner. He estimates he has covered more than 1,500 games in 70 gyms over that span, including numerous Indiana All-Stars and all-state players. Miller also is noted as a racing writer, but he long has had a love of basketball. He was a basketball student manager at Southport, then went on to a long writing career at The Indianapolis Star before moving to ESPN, SPEED and NBC Sports.
Rea is a local TV news veteran who has been part of the central Indiana sports scene for more than three decades. The Lafayette native and Butler University graduate worked at WISH-Channel 8 for 17 years before moving to WTHR-Channel 13 in 1998. He worked there full time until 2006 when he joined Methodist Sports Medicine in a marketing position. He has continued as a freelance contributor to Channel 13 in the ensuing years.
Swanson has been a sports journalist for 57 years, 21 of the past 23 as sports editor of the Princeton Daily Clarion. There he regular covers Princeton, Gibson Southern, Wood Memorial and Oakland City University athletics as well as Gibson County sports at all levels. He previously worked for 21 years at the Evansville Sunday Courier & Press. More information about each of the award winners follows.