The Big East has confirmed what Adam Zagoria reported yesterday evening: Marquette senior forward Jae Crowder is YOUR 2012 Big East Player Of The Year.

This is the first time a Marquette player has won a conference player of the year award since 2003 when Dwyane Wade was Conference USA Player Of The Year. The only other Marquette player to win a conference player of the year award was Jim McIlvaine in 1994 when Marquette was a member of the Great Midwest Conference.

In addition to being a MANIMAL, Crowder averaged 17.6 points (3rd best in the Big East), 7.9 rebounds (9th), 2.1 assists, 2.4 steals (2nd), and 1 block per game this season. In just Big East games, Crowder upped the ante by improving on every single one of those numbers: 18 points (4th best in the Big East), 8.2 rebounds (9th), 2.2 assists, 2.9 steals (tied for 1st!) and 1.2 blocks (12th). The Absolut Weapon was absolutely unstoppable down the home stretch of the season, winning the Big East Player Of The Week in two consecutive weeks in the month of February.

With just 18 more points, Crowder will become the 44th player in Marquette history to reach the 1,000 point barrier. and with 3 more rebounds in addition to that, he will become the 18th player in Marquette history with 1,000 points and 500 rebounds.

On top of all of that, Crowder is also garnering national recognition for his play with CBSSports.com listing him in their National Player Of The Year watch list.

Congratulations to Jae!