Blue, Gardner Earn Big East Honors

This morning, the Big East announced the all-conference teams. Vander Blue was named to the All-Big East Second Team, while Davante Gardner earned Honorable Mention honors. It's the first all-conference honor for both men.

Blue improved his shooting from from the field, from behind the arc, and from the free throw line over his marks from last year and finished with the team lead in scoring at 14.4 points per game. Gardner improved on his field goal and free throw shooting from last year as well. Gardner pulled off the impressive feat of finishing third in the Big East in field goal percentage and fourth in free throw percentage. Ox finished second on the team in scoring while coming off the bench for every single game this season.

You can follow the link above for the full list of all three all-conference teams and the all-rookie team. Let's turn our attention to how our predictions shook out for the all-Big East First Team. Here's the official list:

ALL-BIG EAST FIRST TEAM

Shabazz Napier, Connecticut

Otto Porter, Jr., Georgetown

Gorgui Dieng, Louisville

Russ Smith, Louisville

Jack Cooley, Notre Dame

Bryce Cotton, Providence

Silly me, I thought Sean Kilpatrick being named Player of The Week twice and named to five weekly Honor Rolls, more than all but five players would give him a spot on the first team. I also gave a nod to Brandon Triche, but that was apparently totally bonkers, as Triche didn't even make it to the second team like Kilpatrick did. In any case, Porter being the only unanimous selection to the First Team is a hint that makes it look like picking him as Player Of The Year was pretty smart and/or obvious on my part.

Tomorrow the Big East will announce the winners of the Defensive Player Of The Year, Most Improved, Sixth Man and Sportsmanship awards, while Player, Coach, Rookie, and Scholar-Athlete Of The Year will be named on Tuesday.