GREENSBORO, N.C. (ACSMA) – Veteran television color commentator Mike Gminski and longtime sportswriter David Teel are this year’s recipients of the Marvin “Skeeter” Francis Award.

The Francis Award, presented by the Atlantic Coast Sport Media Association (ACSMA), recognizes individuals for distinguished service to, or coverage of, the ACC.

A 1980 Duke graduate, Gminski totaled more than 2,300 points and 1,200 rebounds in his four-year collegiate career, which included two ACC titles and a runner-up finish in the 1978 NCAA finals. Following graduation, Gminski was selected seventh overall by the New Jersey Nets in the first round of the 1980 NBA Draft. He went on to play 14 seasons in the NBA, averaging nearly 12 points and seven rebounds per game.

In 2004, he was hired by Raycom as a color commentator for ACC basketball coverage and has held that position for 20 seasons. He served as a color commentator for CBS Sports’ coverage of the NCAA Tournament from 2004 to 2017 and has been a member of the Charlotte Hornets broadcast team as well.

A native of Monroe, Connecticut, Gminski was named one of the ACC’s Top 50 all-time players as part of its 50th Anniversary team in 2003, the year he was also inducted into the National Polish Hall of Fame. He resides in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Following graduation from James Madison University in 1981, Teel began his journalism career with short stints at newspapers in Ocean City, (Maryland), Lynchburg (Virginia) and Fayetteville (North Carolina). He joined the Newport News Daily Press in 1984, and for the next 36 years established himself as one of the country’s foremost reporters and columnists covering the ACC.

Teel has spent the last three years as a columnist for the Richmond Times-Dispatch and will cover his 40th New York Life ACC Tournament next week. A 14-time Virginia Sportswriter of the Year, Teel was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 2014 and into the United States Basketball Writers Association Hall of Fame in 2017. Teel, his wife Jill, and daughter Laura reside in Poquoson, Virginia.

ABOUT THE MARVIN “SKEETER” FRANCIS AWARD
The award is named in memory of Marvin ‘Skeeter’ Francis, who served as the longtime sports information director at Wake Forest and the first administrator of the ACC’s media services division.

ABOUT THE ATLANTIC COAST SPORTS MEDIA ASSOCIATION
The Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association is an organization of journalists dedicated to fostering a mutually beneficial relationship between the news media and the institutions and administration of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

ALL-TIME FRANCIS AWARD WINNERS

2023 Mike Gminski, David Teel

2022 Doug Doughty, Tucker McLaughlin

2021 No Winner

2020 Dan Collins, Mike Hogewood

2019 Dan Bonner, Al Featherston

2018 Mike Finn

2017 Dick Groat

2016 Tim Brant, Ken Haines

2015 Jimmy Rayburn

2014 Brian Morrison

2013 Lenox Rawlings

2012 Caulton Tudor

2011 Johnny Holliday

2010 Jim Thacker

2009 Bob Harris

2008 Frank Weedon

2007 Tom Mickle

2006 Gene Corrigan 

2005 Billy Packer

2004 Bob Jordan

2003 John Feinstein 

2002 Rick Brewer, Woody Durham

2001 Furman Bisher

2000 Ron Green Sr.

1999 Jim Phillips

1998 Bill Brill

1997 Irwin Smallwood

1996 Dick Herbert

1995 Mary Garber, Smith Barrier

1993 joe f. blair

1992 Hugh Morton

1991 C.D. Chesley

1990 Bob Bradley