The final four Big East Conference men's basketball awards were announced Tuesday evening, and St. John's Red Storm freshman guard Moe Harkless was named the league's Rookie of the Year, while Marquette Golden Eagles senior forward Jae Crowder earned Player of the Year honors.
Harkless, whose Johnnies lost in the first round of the Big East Tournament to the Pittsburgh Panthers 73-59 despite his game-high 25 points, becomes the first St. John's player to win the award since David Russell in 1979-80.
Harkless averaged 15 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1.5 blocks per game for St. John's, which ended the year 13-19 overall.
Crowder was in a two-way battle with West Virginia Mountaineers senior forward Kevin Jones, but his play down the stretch helped the Golden Eagles finish the season as the second-best team in the conference.
Meanwhile, USF head coach Stan Heath earned the confernece's Coach of the Year award, beating out theSyracuse Orange's Jim Boeheim and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish's Mike Brey.
Heath helped lead the Bulls to their best regular season in Big East history (12-6), as well as a 19-12 record overall. So far, South Florida is on pace to earn a NCAA Tournament bid for the first time since 1992.
Here's a composite look of the 2012 Big East awards:
Player of the Year: Jae Crowder, senior forward, Marquette Golden Eagles
Sixth-Man of the Year: Dion Waiters, sophomore guard, Syracuse Orange
Rookie of the Year: Moe Harkless, guard/forward, St. John's Red Storm
Coach of the Year: Stan Heath, South Florida Bulls
Scholar Athlete of the Year: Tim Abromaitis, Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Sportsman of the Year: Jason Clark, senior guard, Georgetown Hoyas
— For complete coverage of the Big East Tournament, check back to this SB Nation New York StoryStream. For more on the Big East Conference, visit the SB Nation blog Big East Coast Bias.