Hansen to be inducted into Indiana Sportswriters Hall of Fame

Former South Bend Tribune writer Eric Hansen is among the 2022 class of the Indiana Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association Hall of Fame. 

The annual awards banquet will be held Sunday, April 10, at Valle Vista Country Club in Greenwood, Ind.

Hansen is in his 40th year as a full-time sportswriter, all spent in Indiana. After stints in Columbus and Hammond, Hansen came to the South Bend Tribune in 1988 as the Big Ten Conference beat writer.

He began coverage of Notre Dame sports, namely football, in 1997 and became the Notre Dame football beat writer in 2005. Hansen recently left the Tribune to start a new venture with Rivals.com. Hansen's writing has received 20 national awards and numerous more statewide.

Among other inductees is the late Jeff Jeffers of WNDU-TV. Jeffers spent 40 years on the airwaves in the South Bend area. He was also enshrined into the Indiana Football Hall of Fame in 2008. Jeffers died in 2017 at the age of 64.

Completing the 2022 class are Dave Calabro of WTHR-TV, Barry Lewis of the Crawfordsville Journal-Review, Rob Weaver of WPGW Radio and David Woods of the Indianapolis Star, 

Also to be honored at the banquet is Kyle Neddenriep of the Indianapolis Star as he was  named the Corky Lamm Sportswriter of the Year. Andrew Smith of New Pal Radio/voice of Indy Fuel was named the Marv Bates Sportscaster of the Year. Ray Simmons, Director of Athletic Communications at the University of Southern Indiana will get the Bob Williams Helping Hand Award and the Ron Lemasters Lifetime Achievement Award goes to Tom Kubat of the Lafayette Journal & Courier (retired).