Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv is reporting on Twitter the Big East Conference has selected Marquette forward Jae Crowder as the Big East Player of the Year over West Virginia’s Kevin Jones. Crowder is ranked third in the league in scoring (17.6 points per game) and ninth in rebounding (7.9 rebounds per game). He also led the Marquette Golden Eagles to a second place finish in the Big East Conference.
Jones led the league in both scoring (20 ppg) and rebound (11 rpg) while leading a very young West Virginia squad to a 19-12 overall record and a 9-9 conference record. He is only the third player in Big East Conference history to lead the league in both scoring and rebound. The other two players were Notre Dame’s Troy Murphy and Luke Harangody, both won the Big East Player of the Year.
On Sunday, both Crowder and Jones were named 1st team All-Big East selections, but Crowder was the only unanimous selection. The official announcement for the Big East Player of the Year will be made before the beginning of the night session of Tuesday’s Big East Tournament.
Even though the award hasn’t been officially announced yet, WVU head coach Bob Huggins tweeted his support to Jones saying, ""KJ will always be my MVP. Mountaineer fans we need to rally."