Alum David Ubben is first recipient of Aschoff Rising Star Award

David Ubben, a 2009 alum of the program, was honored as the first recipient of the Edward Aschoff Rising Star award, which is named for the ESPN college football reporter who died on Christmas Eve in 2019 from previously undetected Stage 4 non-Hodgkin lymphoma in his lungs

Ubben, a graduate of the University of Missouri and interned at The Oklahoman as an SJI participant, was a former colleague with Aschoff working together when Aschoff covered the SEC and Ubben the Big 12.

Ubben has covered the University of Tennessee football team for The Athletic since May 2018.

"Ed was my friend and colleague," Ubben said to ESPN. "We had a lot in common, but he was much cooler than I am and infinitely more well-dressed. Watching him climb the ladder at ESPN was so thrilling and seeing him live out his dreams in this business made me so happy for him."

Ubben, the FWAA's second vice president, was the Oklahoma football beat writer for The Oklahoman before leaving to write about Big 12 football for ESPN.com for 3½ years. Ubben has also worked at Fox Sports Southwest as a Big 12 columnist and television analyst for the network.