Diana Koval Wins 2026 Mary Jo Haverbeck Award

INDIANAPOLIS (USBWA) – In recognition of her long and distinguished service to collegiate women’s basketball, Diana Koval, Associate Athletics Director/Communications and Public Relations at the University of South Carolina, has been named the U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s Mary Jo Haverbeck Award recipient for 2026.

Koval has overseen media relations coordination for USC’s women’s basketball program since her arrival to the Columbia, South Carolina campus in September 2007. She has managed all publicity and storytelling as the women’s basketball program has emerged onto the national stage under multi-Hall of Fame head coach Dawn Staley, one of the most dynamic and recognizable collegiate coaches in history. Koval has been involved in the Gamecock’s 13 NCAA tournament appearances under Staley, which includes three NCAA titles (2017, 2022, 2024) and seven total Final Four appearances along with 10 Southeastern Conference regular season championships and nine SEC tournament titles.

She will be presented with the Haverbeck Award at the 2026 NCAA Women’s Basketball Final Four in Phoenix during the USBWA awards breakfast which takes place on Friday, April 3 at the Mortgage Matchup Center.

“Diana Koval has been a big part of everything we’ve accomplished at South Carolina,” Staley noted. “The championships and the success people see don’t happen without the people working tirelessly behind the scenes, and Diana has always been one of those people leading the way. She works as hard as anyone to protect and promote our team and our brand, and she does it with incredible care for our players and our program. This USBWA recognition is well deserved because Diana’s impact on our success and on women’s basketball has been meaningful and lasting.”

Koval arrived at South Carolina as an assistant director and has steadily been promoted, attaining her current associate athletics director position in November 2024. Along the way, she encouraged Staley to become an early adopter of Twitter (now X), with Staley now the most followed women’s basketball coach in the nation. Koval has cultivated and managed the program’s extensive media requests, inside and outside of sports, and developed campaigns to promote A’ja Wilson and Aliyah Boston for successful national player of the year honors.

“Dawn Staley’s relationship with media members, local and national, has been well documented throughout this era of championship-level success for her South Carolina program,” said USBWA Executive Director Malcolm Moran. “What has not been as documented is the reason that Dawn’s availability has worked so well. Diana’s dedication, attention to detail and spirit of cooperation have helped us tell the story of her program, much like Mary Jo’s commitment to help accomplished the same thing at Penn State a long time ago.”

“It’s been such an honor to serve college women’s basketball and the media covering it, especially at a time when the sport continues to grow exponentially,” Koval said. “I am grateful to Coach Staley and all the student-athletes who trusted my advice and invested time in doing everything they could to support our media efforts. It’s a gift that I get to be the bridge between those incredible women and the media who work to elevate them and their stories. I appreciate this USBWA recognition and being associated not just with Mary Jo as a pioneer in our field but also with all the other recipients who paved the way.”

David Cloninger, The Post and Courier sports journalist who primarily covers all Gamecock sports, notes the important professional relationships that Koval has developed and maintained with the media throughout her USC tenure.

“When South Carolina basketball went from good to great, and great to elite, Diana never changed her approach to the job and willingness to help the local media even as the national media began to add to her workload with requests,” Cloninger stated. “Her pleasant and consistent way of handling twice-a-week availabilities, one-on-one interviews with USC coaches and players and spur-of-the-moment topics during postseasons has created a team mentality among the local crew: we know if we ever have a problem or something pops up unexpectedly, Diana will already have it under control and be ready to handle it. Excellence inspires excellence, from the court to the athletic communications chair, and Diana has been an immense part of the Gamecocks’ success. Congratulations to Diana for this USBWA recognition!”

As a leader in the USC athletic communications/public relations department, Koval has hired and supervised student assistants, and now oversees three full-time staff members. She also leads the athletics department’s awards committee, which identifies and promotes the best candidates for all multi-sport conference and national awards. In her early days on staff, she worked with the golf programs and men’s tennis and was a secondary contact for football.

“Diana is a rockstar,” said Steve Fink, South Carolina Senior Associate Athletics Director. “She has worked alongside Dawn Staley and with women’s basketball throughout her 19-year tenure at South Carolina, helping build the brand for one of the most successful and visible programs in the country. Diana has established excellent relationships both within the sports media industry and with outlets that traditionally do not cover women’s basketball. She also willingly shares her experience and expertise with younger communications specialists. Diana is someone who prefers to stay out of the limelight but is most deserving of this prestigious USBWA award.”

After earning her bachelor’s in business administration from North Carolina (1993), Koval worked for three years at a brokerage firm in Charlotte before changing career paths and attaining her master’s degree in sport management at Connecticut (1997). She then worked in sports information/athletic communications at Elon, Western Carolina and Saint Louis prior to her South Carolina position.

The USBWA was formed in 1956 at the urging of then-NCAA Executive Director Walter Byers. With some 800 members worldwide, it is one of the most influential organizations in college basketball. It has selected an All-America team since the 1956-57 season. For more information on the USBWA and its award programs, contact executive director Malcolm Moran at malcolm@usbwa.com.

USBWA MARY JO HAVERBECK AWARD WINNERS
2015: Sue Donohoe, NCAA
2016: Caroline Williams, USA Basketball
2017: Barb Kowal, College Sports Information Directors of America (now College Sports Communicators)
2018: Danielle Donehew, Women’s Basketball Coaches Association
2019: Nora Lynn Finch, Atlantic Coast Conference
2020: Harry Perretta, Villanova University
2021: No recipient selected
2022: Debby Jennings, University of Tennessee, USA Basketball
2023: Lindy Brown, Duke University
2024: Rick Nixon, NCAA
2025: Rose DiPaula, University of Maryland
2026: Diana Koval, University of South Carolina