One wouldn’t think the worlds of biotechnology and fantasy basketball would have much in common. For FSWA Fantasy Basketball Writer of the Year Andre’ Snellings, the two realms are not that dissimilar and his biotechnological learning may even help provide award winning fantasy analysis.

Snellings won the award for the second time after being named best fantasy basketball writer in 2007. After being shocked in 2007 because he didn’t even know he was nominated, this year Snellings knew about the process and said, "With the way the industry is booming and all of the quality writers that are contributing to the field, it really makes me feel good to be recognized by my peers as a writer worthy of respect."

Snellings has come a long way in the industry since starting to write for Rotowire in 2004. At first, he didn’t realize his future writing home was a pay site and it was only after he mistakenly entered his email address on Rotowire that led to a serendipitous encounter with one of their reps. As he talked to the Rotowire representative, he "mentioned that my friends told me I should write about this stuff for a living. Based on that they gave me a try out, and everything has grown from there." He started providing football updates, and graduated to the NBA (Memphis Grizzly daily reports and the entire NBA two nights per week). Snellings started writing features in 2005 and landed a weekly column starting in the 2006-07 NBA season. Acclaim soon followed.

Since that time the fantasy industry has grown and Snellings’ interest in statistics has matured. He, like many other statistical-minded basketball fans, has become more interested in advanced statistics. He noted, "There is a lot of interesting data out there that can change the way we see the game and bring into question just how effective the traditional box scores really are at evaluating the game." He has participated in leagues hosted by 82games.com and ESPN.com that used these advanced stats and noted that "cases the scoring systems were creative and amenable to interesting game play, and I would love to see more of that incorporated into fantasy basketball in the future."

For writers who are looking to follow in his footsteps, Snellings said, "The biggest thing is to write about something you love and do it because you love it, not because you want to make money or get recognized. If you don't get the position you want right away don't let that be a negative, just try to find some way to contribute and eventually you are likely to get your chance. If the love is there and you find you have an aptitude, eventually you will put out quality and someone will recognize that."