Howard, seven players honored by Big East

Seven players were named to the two all-Big East teams, while Jasper Howard was posthumously named the captain of the teams, the Big East announced on Wednesday.

Howard, who was stabbed to death in the early hours of Oct. 18, was a junior cornerback at UConn.

"We regard the Big East conference as the biggest family in collegiate athletics," said commissioner John Marinatto. "As a family, we wanted to respectfully remember Jasper Howard and honor his memory. In naming him the honorary captain of the 2009 all-Big East Team, we have memorialized his name in Big East conference history."

Right guard Zach Hurd, defensive end Lindsey Witten and weakside linebacker Lawrence Wilson were named to the Big East first team.

Running backs Andre Dixon and Jordan Todman each made the Big East second team, as did middle linebacker Greg Lloyd and cornerback Robert McClain.

The team was assembled through voting by the conference's eight head coaches. Pittsburgh running back Dion Lewis, a freshman, was named both the Big East offensive player of the year and the rookie of the year - the first player to do so since Michael Vick, from Virginia Tech, won both in 1999.

Pittsburgh defensive linemen Greg Romeus and Mick Williams shared defensive player of the year honors, Cincinnati wide receiver Mardy Gilyard won special teams player of the year honors for the second consecutive season and Cincinnati's Brian Kelly became the first coach to win three consecutive coach of the year awards and third coach overall to win the award three times.

Pittsburgh had 13 players honored on the two teams, the most of any school. Cincinnati was second with 11 players honored; West Virginia had 10, UConn had seven, USF had six, Syracuse had four, Rutgers had three and Louisville had one.

FIRST TEAM

Offense

Pos. - Player, School

WR - Mardy Gilyard, Cincinnati

WR - Jonathan Baldwin, Pittsburgh

OT - Jason Pinkston, Pittsburgh

OT - Anthony Davis, Rutgers

OG - Zach Hurd, Connecticut

OG - John Malecki, Pittsburgh

C - Chris Jurek, Cincinnati

TE - Dorin Dickerson, Pittsburgh

QB - Tony Pike, Cincinnati

QB - Bill Stull, Pittsburgh

RB - Dion Lewis, Pittsburgh

RB - Noel Devine, West Virginia

K - Tyler Bitancurt, West Virginia

RS - Mardy Gilyard, Cincinnati

Defense

Pos. - Player, School

DL - Lindsey Witten, Connecticut

DL - Greg Romeus, Pittsburgh

DL - Mick Williams, Pittsburgh

DL - Jason Pierre-Paul, USF

DL - Arthur Jones, Syracuse

LB - Lawrence Wilson, Connecticut

LB - Adam Gunn, Pittsburgh

LB - Kion Wilson, USF

LB - J.T. Thomas, West Virginia

CB - Aaron Berry, Pittsburgh

CB - Devin McCourty, Rutgers

CB - Brandon Hogan, West Virginia

S - Aaron Webster, Cincinnati

S - Robert Sands, West Virginia

P - Rob Long, Syracuse

SECOND TEAM

Offense

Pos. - Player, School

WR - Armon Binns, Cincinnati

WR - Tim Brown, Rutgers

OT - Jeff Linkenbach, Cincinnati

OT - Selvish Capers, West Virginia

OG - Alex Hoffman, Cincinnati

OG - Jason Kelce, Cincinnati

OG - Ryan Bartholomew, Syracuse

C - Samson Genus, USF

TE - Ben Guidugli, Cincinnati

TE - Nate Byham, Pittsburgh

QB - Jarrett Brown, West Virginia

RB - Andre Dixon, Connecticut

RB - Jordan Todman, Connecticut

K - Dan Hutchins, Pittsburgh

RS - Trent Guy, Louisville

DEFENSE

Pos. - Player, School

DL - Ricardo Mathews, Cincinnati

DL - Gus Mustakus, Pittsburgh

DL - George Selvie, USF

DL - Chris Neild, West Virginia

LB - Greg Lloyd, Connecticut

LB - Derrell Smith, Syracuse

LB - Reed Williams, West Virginia

CB - Robert McClain, Connecticut

CB - Jerome Murphy, USF

S - Dom DeCicco, Pittsburgh

S - Nate Allen, USF

P - Scott Kozlowski, West Virginia