ATLANTA (March 27, 2024) — Former ESPN Vice President Patricia Lowry is the recipient of the 2024 WBCA Mel Greenberg Media Award, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association announced today.
“I am pleased to announce Patricia Lowry as this year’s recipient of the WBCA Mel Greenberg Media Award,” said WBCA Executive Director Danielle Donehew. “Pat’s efforts at ESPN, both as a producer and as vice president, to increase television coverage of the women’s game was significant in helping elevate our game to where it is today. The WBCA salutes Pat for her contribution of time and talent to advance women’s basketball.”
“Pat is a very deserving winner who has been at it a long time using her production skills to enhance women’s hoops as a must-see product,” said Greenberg, the preeminent name in women’s basketball coverage for whom the award is named, and who received the inaugural award in 1991. “Congratulations to yet another worthy recipient who has grown the game!”
Lowry, a multiple-Emmy award winner, retired from ESPN in September 2023 after 21 years. Her primary role at ESPN was vice president, production overseeing women’s college basketball game and studio coverage including women’s College Game Day and ESPN’s studio and game coverage of the NCAA Tournament. The 2023 National Championship game was one of the highlights of Lowry’s career, with the game shattering ratings records and becoming the most watched college basketball game (men’s or women’s) on the ESPN family of networks.
Lowry started playing basketball at 4 years old shooting hoops with her mother in the backyard. Lowry’s mother, RJ, told her stories of playing basketball against the great Nera White, Joan Crawford, Sue Gunter, and others. They discussed the crazy rules of the game in the 1940’s and 50’s and the great teams like Nashville Business College, Cook’s Goldblumes, Wayland Baptist Flying Queens and numerous others from that era. RJ’s stories and love of basketball are some of Lowry’s favorite childhood memories.
Recurring stress fractures derailed Lowry’s basketball career, but her love of the game continued grow. Lowry worked at the WNBA in technical roles from 1997 to 1999. From 2000 to 2002, she was the executive producer/director for the WNBA’s Portland Fire. When she joined ESPN in 2002, she became the coordinating producer of the WNBA on ABC and ESPN. During her time overseeing coverage of the WNBA, Lowry found innovative ways to do more with less to tell the stories of the athletes, coaches and the league while pushing the envelope using live coach’s mics, wireless cameras on the court for free throws and almost anything the late vice president of broadcasting for the WNBA ,Todd Harris, would let her get away with to try to get more eyes on the game.
Lowry’’s oversight of women’s basketball shifted to the college networks, first with Longhorn and then SEC Network. That quickly led to her oversight of all of women’s college basketball on the ESPN family of Networks. Lowry continued to find innovative ways to do more with less to help grow the game. With the patience and support of the NCAA and Natalie Steger, Lowry developed and embraced alternate broadcasts beginning in 2019 with SmackTalk which eventually became the Bird & Taurasi Show.
Lowry put an emphasis on developing diverse talent and production teams and considers developing diverse talent as one of her greatest career accomplishments.
It takes a team and Lowry is grateful for terrific colleagues to collaborate with like Carol Stiff, Beth Chappell, and Kate Jackson along with her teammates at the NCAA and WNBA.
Lowry is a Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, native. She graduated from Texas A&M University with a bachelor of science degree in journalism. She served on the board of directors and advisory boards for the Pat Summitt Foundation, Kay Yow Cancer Fund, and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.
“I am humbled to receive an award named after Mel Greenberg, one of the most respected journalists to ever cover women’s basketball,” said Lowry. “It is an honor to be recognized by the WBCA and to be included with such a distinguished list of past recipients.”
Greenberg, a longtime Philadelphia Inquirer sportswriter, founded The Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll. He retired from the Inquirer in 2010 but continues to cover the game through his blog, “Womhoops Guru.” The award that bears his name is presented annually to a member of the media or sports communications professional who has best displayed a commitment to women’s basketball and to advancing the role of the media in the women’s game. Selected by past recipients of the award, the candidate must have made a positive impact on the growth and public exposure of the sport, been involved in the media exposure of women’s basketball for a minimum of five years and should be a media ambassador for the women’s game.
Visit WBCA.org to see a list of past recipients.
About the WBCA
The Women’s Basketball Coaches Association is the professional association for coaches of women’s and girls’ basketball at all levels of competition. Founded in 1981, the WBCA offers educational resources that coaches need to help make themselves better leaders, teachers and mentors to their players; provides opportunities for coaches to connect with peers in the profession; serves as the unifying voice of a diverse community of coaches to the organizations that control the game; and celebrates those coaches, players and other individuals who excel each year and contribute to the advancement of the sport. Visit WBCA.org for more details about the association.
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