Marshall University Athletics
Marshall's Cotton, McGill Sweep State Awards Once Again
1/16/2018 12:00:00 AM | General
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The Marshall University athletic department received multiple record-setting honors Tuesday when the National Sports Media Association announced the 2017 state winners for top sportscaster and sportswriter.
Steve Cotton, the longtime radio voice of the Thundering Herd, was named the NSMA Sportscaster of the Year, as voted by state members of the organization. It is the 12th time Cotton has been recognized by the NSMA, which is based out of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. No other West Virginia broadcaster has won more than nine times. Cotton won for the third time in the last four years.
Chuck McGill, who is in his second year as an assistant athletic director at Marshall, was named West Virginia's Sportswriter of the Year. McGill, a state native, won for the fifth consecutive year and sixth time overall. McGill's active streak is the longest among West Virginia scribes in the 59-year history of the organization.
"Steve Cotton and Chuck McGill represent what is best about our athletic department," Marshall Director of Athletics Mike Hamrick said. "They work hard, they are professional and they care about Thundering Herd athletics. They deserve this recognition."
Cotton joined the Marshall broadcasting team in 1993, and has been the primary MU athletics radio play-by-play man since 1996. The 53-year-old Michigan native won his first NSMA award in 1998. The organization was then known by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association, or NSSA. Cotton also took home the state's sportscaster prize in 2001, 2003-06, 2008-10, 2014 and 2016. He is the all-time leader in state Sportscaster of the Year awards by the NSMA, ahead of Jack Fleming's nine and Keith Morehouse's five.
McGill, 37, left a career in newspapers to join the Marshall athletic department in July of 2016. He provides feature content for the school's official athletics website, HerdZone.com, and the official athletic publication of Marshall athletics, Thundering Herd Illustrated. He is the first sportscaster or sportswriter to win five consecutive NSMA awards in West Virginia history.
"I am proud of who we have on our side telling our story," said Aaron Goebbel, MU's Associate Director of Athletics for External Affairs. "The landscape of sports media continues to evolve, and the Marshall athletic department is being proactive about adapting to the changing habits of sports consumers. We are thrilled we have the best in the business helping us deliver our message to Marshall fans locally and around the country."
The NSMA began handing out awards in 1959. The first West Virginia winners were Jack Fleming, who at the time worked for WAJR in Morgantown, and Dick Hudson, the longtime sports editor of the Charleston Daily Mail.
Also on Tuesday, the NSMA announced Thomas Boswell, Woody Durham, Bryant Gumbel and Dick Weiss as Hall of Fame inductees. Kevin Harlan was named the 2017 National Sportscaster of the Year, and Adrian Wojnarowski is the 2017 National Sportswriter of the Year.
All state and national winners, as well as Hall of Fame inductees, will be honored at the 59th NSMA Awards Weekend, June 23-25, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
