Markus Howard & Andrew Rowsey Earn 2017-18 All-Big East Honors

It’s conference award SZN, and Marquette pulled in just a pair of honors this year. Markus Howard garnered himself an all-Big East second team selection, joining Creighton guard Khyri Thomas, Seton Hall forwards Angel Delgado and Desi Rodriguez, and Georgetown forward Marcus Derrickson. Andrew Rowsey was named an honorable mention with Providence guard Kyron Cartwright.

As far as notable absences go, Marquette forward and Jack-Of-All-Trades Sam Hauser didn’t make the cut, and none of the freshmen were included on the all-freshman team. The latter really isn’t very surprising, and when you think about it, neither is the former. I’ll throw the tweets with each team at the bottom, but first, some thoughts.

When you look at the Big East and where they fall nationally, it’s a pretty easy call that it’s a top-three conference in the country this year, along with the Big 12 and the ACC. I’d hear arguments for it being ranked anywhere among those conferences. But when you have a conference that has so many good teams, you’re going to have a lot of good players, so managing to wind up on the all-Big East first team, you’re a damn good basketball player. I think it makes a lot of sense for Howard, who shot just at 40 percent from 3 in conference play, to fall where he did on the pecking order. He didn’t shoot as consistently as we know/think/hope he’s capable of, and while he’s still one of the best scorers in the country, he’s also just one of the 10 or so best players in one of the three best conferences in the country. Nothing for him to hang his head about.

As for Rowsey, I’m actually a bit surprised he was mentioned, honorably. Surprised isn’t the right word. Actually, I guess I just wouldn’t have been surprised if they had given it to someone else. There were other guys who were deserving too, like Georgetown center Jessie Govan (he averaged a double-double), St. John’s guard Justin Simon (12 points, 7 boards and 5 dimes a game!), literally anyone from Villanova, or even Sam Hauser (we’ll get to that in a minute). But I think it’s a good recognition of just how important Rowsey is for Marquette this year, his last collegiate season. Good for you, Andrew.

As for Hauser, it’s tough to get recognized as a team’s best all-around player when two of your teammates are taking turns putting up 30 points, even if you are casually and often quietly playing consistently great basketball game in and game out. Is he the fourth best 3-point shooter in the country by percentage? Yes, he is. Is he Marquette’s leading rebounder? Of course. Has he played the most minutes on the team this season? You bet your bottom dollar. *Sighs* He’s deserving of serious recognition, whether he’s actually getting it or not. Eventually, though, he will. Right? Right?

Right now, however, I hope that the last thing on these guys’ minds is awards. They’ve got some games to win.

Here’s the official notification of the All-Big East teams and the All-Freshman team.