Big East Basketball Awards: Rick Jackson, Dwight Hardy, Justin Burrell Earn End-Of-Season Honors

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Big East Basketball Awards 2011: Syracuse Basketball's Rick Jackson Named Defensive Player Of The Year

A few days after being left off the All-Big East First Team by the Big East Conference coaches, Syracuse basketball's senior forward Rick Jackson was named Big East Defensive Player Of The Year Monday. Jackson, who was named to the All-Big East Second Team on Sunday, led the conference in a number of categories including blocked shots.

"Jackson was a shot-blocking and rebounding standout for the Orange," says the press release by the Big East Conference.  He won the BIG EAST rebounding crown by averaging 9.9 rebounds in league games.  In all contests, he was first in the league with a 10.7 mark.  Jackson is the first Syracuse player to win the BIG EAST rebounding title since Derrick Coleman in 1989-90.  Jackson also averaged a league-leading 7.2 defensive rebounds game.  The native of Philadelphia, Pa., led the BIG EAST in blocked shots with a 2.5 average in all games and a 2.8 mark in league play.  Jackson averaged 13.1 ppg."

"I guess coaches shouldn’t be voting for things like this,’’ Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said Sunday after the All-Big East Teams were released. "It doesn’t make sense. You have six guards on one team? He’s been the best big man in the conference all year. If you ask coaches ‘Who’s the most important player on your team?’ They’ll all say the big guy. But Rick’s not first team. It’s crazy.’’

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Big East Basketball Awards: St. John's Basketball's Dwight Hardy And Justin Burrell Earn Honors

The St. John's basketball program earned two more Big East Conference awards Monday afternoon as senior point guard Dwight Hardy was named the conference's Most Improved Player, while senior forward Justin Burrell was named Sixth Man Of The Year.

"Hardy helped St. John’s return to a contender’s role in the BIG EAST standings,' said the release from the BigEast.org. "The 6-2 senior finished fourth in the league in scoring, averaging 17.9 ppg.  Though not named to any of the Preseason All-BIG EAST teams, he earned an All-BIG EAST First Team selection.  The native of the Bronx, N.Y., helped the Red Storm end the regular season by winning nine of their last 11 games."

On Friday, Hardy was named the SB Nation New York MVP because of his play during the Johnnies last 10 games of the Big East regular season. Hardy was also a All-Big East First Team selection on Sunday.

As for Burrell:

"Burrell, a 6-8 senior, is also from the Bronx, N.Y.  He was a key contributor off the bench in helping the Red Storm to a 20-10 overall record and a 12-6 BIG EAST mark.  Burrell averaged 6.6 points and 5.0 rebounds while playing 21.1 minutes per game.  He shot 51.1 percent from the field."

There's not doubt that Hardy was the league's most improved player, but the Burrell announcement is a bit surprising until you run down the list of other possible sixth-man candidates and can't find any.  I am not saying that Burrell isn't a good player, I really like him, but it seems that it was a down year for bench players considering I couldn't find another player to vote for and former players to receive this award were: Syracuse's Kris Joseph ('09-'10), Villanova's Corey Fisher ('08-'09) and Georgetown's Patrick Ewing Jr. ('07-'08).

On Tuesday, the Big East Conference will announce the Player Of the Year, Coach Of The Year, Rookie Of The Year and Scholar-Athlete Of The Year.