ESPN’s Lee Corso has been elected to the National Sports Media Association Hall of Fame, and college football insider Pete Thamel is one of two national sportswriters of the year, the NSMA announced Monday.
Corso has been part of ESPN’s “College GameDay” since 1987 and his “helmet pick” of the winner of each week’s signature game is a show staple. Corso has been part of eight Emmy Awards for the show, following a career as a college football coach.
Corso learned of the honor during GameDay’s college football national championship pregame show.
Thamel joined ESPN in January 2022 and is one of the country’s top college football news breakers. The Syracuse grad previously worked for the New York Times, Sports Illustrated and Yahoo Sports.
Also elected to the Hall of Fame were sportswriter Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times, who is also a regular panelist on ESPN’s Around the Horn. Two other Hall of Fame picks are being honored posthumously — hockey announcer Dan Kelly and noted sports essayist Roger Angell.
Thamel shares the national sportswriter of the year award with Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.
Ian Eagle of CBS is the national sportscaster of the year.
The Hall of Fame induction ceremony is set for June in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.