Marvin West, a past president of the USBWA and long-time sportswriter for the Knoxville News-Sentinel and Scripps Howard News Service, has been voted into the USBWA Hall of Fame.

Marvin West

West, the USBWA president in 1983-84, joined the News-Sentinel in 1955 and covered Tennessee until 1979, when he became full-time columnist and associate sports editor. He was named sports editor in 1980.

He continued covering UT and college sports, including the Final Fours until he was named managing editor of the paper in 1983.

West then went to Scripps Howard to become the wire service's first sports editor, where he began again covering Final Fours in 1985 and did so until 1991. He became managing editor of the news service in 1995 and retired in 1998.

He was honored by his alma mater, the University of Tennessee, for his "distinguished sportswriting career," has won numerous writing awards and was named the state Sportswriter of the Year several times.

"Few journalists I know have worked harder in their careers," said USA Today College Editor Tom O'Toole, who wrote a letter supporting West's nomination. "Though he covered as variety of sports, his first love was college athletics."

West will be inducted into the USBWA Hall of Fame at the annual USBWA awards breakfast on Monday, April 3, in Indianapolis.

He'll become the 48th member of the Hall of Fame since its inception in 1988.