Big thanks to the Big East Basketball Blog for putting together the blogpoll all season long. He has now posted the awards compilation.

BE Bloggers ended up picking Tom Crean as BE Coach of the Year, Aaron Gray was Most Improved.

Yesterday I shared my vote on the Rookie and All-Big East team. Here’s how my vote looked for the individual honors.

Player of the Year: Allen Ray

Most Improved: Aaron Gray

Defensive Player of the Year: Marquis Webb

Coach of the Year: Louis Orr

Freshman of the Year: Dominic James

Not surprisingly, James was a unanimous choice. A freshman running the point so well made Marquette a big surprise and the best C-USA escapee in the BE this season.

Going into the season, I expected Seton Hall to be the worst team in the BE this season. The way they imploded last season, kicked players off the team, early departures and all the reports swirling around Louis Orr. The start they got off to did nothing to dispel that impression. Yet, they somehow, stayed together and got better deeper into the season. It’s a credit to their team, and they far exceeded anything I could have expected. Orr deserves the credit for how he kept that team together, despite being an obvious lame-duck.

The Big East won’t make official announcements on these awards until the dinner tonight.

That’s the easy answer when you ask who needs to step up for Pitt to win games in the BET. In the Seton Hall loss, Krauser didn’t score much, but neither did the bench. The bench only came up with 11 points, 9 rebounds and 4 turnovers.

3/5th of Pitt’s bench are the freshman, and so they will be counted on.

Even if Dixon uses more players in the upcoming Big East and NCAA tournaments, it’s a good bet the Panthers’ freshmen will play a key role.

Point guard Levance Fields, power forward Sam Young and center Tyrell Biggs have all had their moments this season and their contributions during the ensuing weeks could determine Pitt’s fate.

“The sky’s the limit for us,” Young said. “People are saying that the freshmen are going to fold, but I don’t even see myself as a freshman anymore. I just see myself as a competitor.”

Pitt’s talented trio average 15 to 16 minutes combined, but they have scored about 16 points per game as well. Fields spells fifth-year senior Carl Krauser and sophomore Ronald Ramon at point guard, and his high-speed game infuses energy into the offense.

Young, who made the Big East’s all-freshman team, is a finalist for rookie of the year honors as well. He should move into the starting lineup for senior John DeGroat, who has continued to open games down the stretch even though his minutes and contributions have been shrinking.

“I think I’ve done a pretty good job so far this season, but I still have a lot of room for improvement,” Fields said. “I’m looking forward to taking my game to another level in the tournaments and then working hard in the offseason to take it up another notch next year.”

There’s a slight error in the story. The three of them average 15 to 16 minutes each not combined. Fields and Young are right around 20 minutes/game and Biggs is around 8 or 9 minutes.

In another story, Krauser is one who Pitt needs to snap out of his slump/funk/whatever has been affecting his production.

“He is our leader,” teammate Levon Kendall said Monday, following a workout at Petersen Events Center.

And so, even though their senior leader has been struggling of late, the rest of the Panthers players and coaches are hopeful that Krauser can find his form and rekindle a spark as the team enters the Big East Conference tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York as a sixth seed and will face 11th-seeded Louisville in the first round on Wednesday night (9 p.m., ESPN).

“I have a lot of confidence in Carl,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “You get asked the same question about a guy who has an off-game, like a J.J. Redick (of Duke) or a Kevin Pittsnogle (of West Virginia). These guys come back and have good games. Guys don’t shoot the same percentage every game. They don’t have their best game every night. That’s why they’re competitors.”
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“It doesn’t have to be scoring,” Dixon said, searching for positives in his senior guard’s play. “I’ve said all along that one of the best games of his career was the Rutgers game (six points, six assists, three rebounds and five turnovers during a 76-68 road victory Jan. 18) and how well he did with decisions and finding guys. I thought he played very well, offensively.

“The scoring, with the number of guys we have, we’re going to have some games where he doesn’t need to score as much and other games where he will.”

Pitt does need him to lead, though. They need him to pass to the open man. Show he has confidence in them during the game — especially in MSG. He has to show he isn’t trying to do it all himself.

The key regardless, is how the whole team plays. When Pitt has thrived has been when you could see the extra pass. When everyone took defensive responsibility for their guy, with a “none shall pass,” attitude.

For Louisville, they are worried about this game.

The Cards may miss starting center David Padgett more than they have in any other game since they lost the 6-foot-11 sophomore to an aggravation of his knee injury with four games to play in the regular season. Padgett, the team’s leading rebounder when he went down, had successful arthroscopic surgery in New York yesterday and is expected to make a full recovery.

In his place, freshman Brian Johnson and sophomore Terrance Farley will have some work to do to handle Pittsburgh center Aaron Gray, a 7-foot 270-pounder. The Panthers ranked second only to Connecticut in rebounding margin in the Big East, outrebounding opponents by more than seven a game.

Since Padgett went down, they went 2-2. Those two losses were both 4-point road losses to WVU and UConn. They have been playing much better.

They still remember, though, a physical Pitt team that out-toughed them on their home court. It was a defensive match with neither team shooting 40%. Tomorrow night’s game will likely be very different.

The Syracuse Post-Standard has their own awards, based on an informal survey of Big East assistant coaches.

Carl Krauser won biggest trash talker for the 3d year in a row with this quote from an unnamed assistant:

“They’ll retire the award in his honor.”

Krauser somehow edged out Gerry McNamara for whiniest player. McNamara took home most overrated, though, in a landslide.

UConn’s Jim Calhoun edged out Syrause’s Jim Boeheim for whiniest coach. In a shocker, Marquette’s Tom Crean in just his first season in the Big East got honorable mention.

There’s even votes concerning the refs.

Best official? Mike Kitts. Guess the Big East assistants didn’t care that he tossed Jim Boeheim from an exhibition game. Jim Burr and Reggie Greenwood are the only other officials to receive multiple votes.

Worst official? Curtis Shaw. Interestingly, Ted Hillary and Gary Prager both received a vote for Best Official and Worst Official.

The papers have little stories about the coaching moves. The moves make sense as far as talent goes:

Gattuso had been in charge of tight ends and recruiting after joining Wannstedt’s staff last year. His new assignment meshes well with his background — Gattuso was a standout defensive lineman at Penn State in the early 1980s.

“That (move) was a natural,” Wannstedt said. “Greg knows our defense as well as anybody.”

Partridge will maintain his role as defensive ends coach. Last season, some special teams work was added to his responsibilities.

Partridge, 32, is entering his fourth season at Pitt. In the offseason, he was contacted by Wisconsin first-year head coach Bret Bielema about a coaching vacancy. However, Partridge opted not interview with the Badgers.

“They called and wanted me to be part of the new staff,” said Partridge, who has known Bielema for several years. “I didn’t feel like I needed to do that, with the great job that I have here.”

Bob Junko, the article notes, will likely be out of commission recovering from his heart surgery through Spring Drills, and after a year of rebuilding ties with Coaches in Western PA with Gattuso’s help, having Junko handle more of the behind the scenes and X-O stuff rather than working directly with the players on the field and overseeing practices makes a lot of sense health wise.

As for Partridge, staying with Pitt and the move means he also gets a nice little raise by being named a coordinator.

Here’s a story on one of the new offensive graduate assistant/Tight Ends Coach.

Like anyone with aspirations of coaching at his sport’s highest level, Ithaca College’s Brian Angelichio is taking the next step.

Angelichio, a two-sport assistant at IC for the past 10 years — and the well-respected offensive coordinator for coach Mike Welch for the past five — confirmed Monday that he has accepted an offer to become the offensive graduate assistant/tight ends coach under former NFL coach Dave Wannstedt at the University of Pittsburgh.

After spending the last decade in Ithaca, the 1994 St. Lawrence graduate said he will complete his move to Western Pennsylvania by this weekend.

“I’ve always wanted to coach Division I football,” said Angelichio, who also spent nine years assisting IC baseball coach George Valesente. “The opportunity’s there, to try and get as high as I can get — to be a coordinator in Division I football.”

After interviewing with Wannstedt and Pitt’s offensive coordinator, Matt Cavanaugh, last Monday, Angelichio said he was offered the job on the spot.
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Last fall, Angelichio’s offensive unit averaged close to 40 points per game and ranked as one of the best in all of Division III football. The affable assistant played the part of mentor to senior quarterback Josh Felicetti, who broke nearly every passing record in program history and led the Bombers to two NCAA tournament appearances.

He also played a major part in the development of offensive guard Joe Scalice, who became the first Bomber in 20 years this season to be named to the Associated Press’ Little All-America first team.

Most impressive for his new position, however, was that Angelichio coached 2004 American Football Coaches Association first-team All-American Vince Dargush — one of the more prolific offensive players in school history.

And a tight end to boot.

An interesting move. I like the hiring of ambitious coaches. Strategically, with RB Coach David Walker and new graduate assistant Jeff Hafley from Albany as well, I can’t help but wonder what that will mean for recruiting in New York. It almost seems like part of a plan to secure the state.

Final note, this story about a former top-ranked QB recruit who just transferred to Middle Tennessee State University.

That splash comes in the form of 6-foot-5, 230-pound stud quarterback Gene Delle Donne.

Delle Donne, who signed with Duke after a sterling career at Salesianum High in Delaware, is transferring to Middle Tennessee after redshirting last season with the Blue Devils.

Delle Donne, who has to sit out one season because of the NCAA’s transfer rules, will have three years of eligibility remaining beginning with the 2007 season.

Coming out of Salesianium, where he was rated the 22nd best high school quarterback in the nation by rivals.com, Delle Donne considered Notre Dame, Michigan, Boston College and Maryland before selecting Duke.

However, a switch in Duke’s offensive philosophy, the Blue Devils wanted a more mobile, athletic quarterback, led Delle Donne to look for another school.

After a visit to MTSU last month, he headed to Pittsburgh to talk with head coach Dave Wannstedt about playing for the Panthers before deciding to go with the Blue Raiders.

Apparently the kid is longer on potential than anything else. The article indicates he was only a 3-star recruit (it also says that MTSU has no player on its team with a ranking of greater than 2-stars).

It would appear Delle Donne was looking for stronger assurances of playing time. He definitely wouldn’t get those assurances at Pitt. Heck, it’s not even clear if Pitt offered a scholarship if he transferred.

The Big East Coaches had a weekly conference call. This time, of course, to discuss the BET. I imagine the time seemed to fly by for reporters with 4 less coaches to have to hear from. They don’t have the audio up at this time.

There are of course articles about the call. Quotes from coaches raving about how tough this will be.

Pitt, Georgetown, Cincinnati and Seton Hall are considered locks for the NCAA tournament field. Syracuse and Louisville can play their way in with one or two victories this week.

“It’s absolutely incredible,” West Virginia coach John Beilein said yesterday. “If you go back two or three years, those first-round games look a like a Sweet 16 group. I looked at the bracket [Sunday] and that’s when it finally hit me how strong this league was this season. The teams that are playing just to get to the quarterfinal round … it’s unbelievable.”

Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun compared this season to the 1996 Big East tournament. In ’96, the Big East produced six NBA first-round picks, headlined by Allen Iverson, Ray Allen and Kerry Kittles. Allen and the Huskies beat Iverson and the Hoyas, 75-74, in the Big East championship game.

Syracuse didn’t make the Big East title game that year, but the Orange advanced to the NCAA title game a few weeks later.

It could be that type of year again in the Big East.

“I think we had three top-10 teams and five teams in the top 20 that year …” Calhoun said. “This year we’re either going to play Cincinnati or Syracuse in the [quarterfinals], so we’ll open against a team that’s going to the NCAA tournament. It was almost impossible to imagine this scenario a few years ago. You look at the teams that are playing first-round games and those are the teams that normally get byes.”

And of course reflecting on just how hard the whole season was.

“The league is a grind. There was just never a time to relax,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “Every game was a huge game, no matter who came in.”

“You could make a case for anybody in this league keeping you up at night, not wanting to face them,” said Tom Crean, coach of Marquette, one of the new teams and the only one to earn a first-round bye.

Sam Young getting All-Big East Freshman honors marks the 3rd straight year Pitt has placed a player on that squad. Chris Taft in 2004 and Ronald Ramon for 2005.

Aaron Gray gave a seemingly Oscar award type comment for being named All-Big East.

Junior center Aaron Gray became the sixth player in school history to earn first-team honors. Senior guard Carl Krauser was named to the second team and freshman forward Sam Young was named to the all-rookie team.

Gray joins Charles Smith, Jerome Lane, Brian Shorter, Brandin Knight and Chevon Troutman as Pitt first-team selections.

“It’s a great achievement,” Gray said. “It’s a great compliment to my team. I couldn’t have done it without them. The support the coaches and my teammates gave me is probably the biggest reason this happened.”

And I’d like to thank all the little people out there that made this possible.

Today Coach, Player and Most Improved Player of the Year in the Big East will be announced.

Gray is a virtual lock for most improved.

Player of the Year will probably go to Rudy Gay. I think Pittsnogle gets his vote splintered by teammate Gansey. The same will happen for Villanova’s Ray and Foye.

I’ll have my selections later and the Big East Blog will put out the blog vote.

Ron Cook still argues for Jamie Dixon. To make the argument, Cook goes revisionist that there were no expectations for Dixon and Pitt. Bull. There were plenty of questions about Pitt. As I said from the end of last season, this team would be anywhere from 6-10 to 10-6 in the Big East. The team met the upper-part of expectations. Also note that Cook leaves out Tom Crean and Marquette who had just as many if not more questions and lowered expectations.

Suffice to say, I did not pick Coach Dixon. If you are looking for a clue as to my vote, here was my preseason predictions for the Big East order.

Lots of articles today.

If the fans have been getting antsy about a repeat of last year’s collapse, then you know the whispers are making it to the coaches and players.

The Panthers won at Louisville 61-57 on Jan. 15 to move to 14-0 but lost to St. John’s six days later and went just 6-6 in their final 12 games. Last season, Pitt also struggled down the stretch, losing three of its last five regular-season games before losing in the first round of both the Big East and NCAA tournaments.

“I think it’s a different situation, a different team,” said junior center Aaron Gray, who was named first-team all-Big East on Monday. “This team, we just got a little unfocused. Last year was a different problem. This year, it’s very correctable. We’re very confident going into the Big East tournament.”

After Saturday’s practice, the team had a meeting to get stuff out of their system.

“We obviously didn’t finish the way we wanted to,” Pitt center Aaron Gray said. “Everyone got their feelings out. We accomplished a lot by just being able to talk to each other. We think we’re not only going into [the postseason] physically prepared but mentally prepared as well.”

Junior forward Levon Kendall agreed that the Panthers needed to have a meeting before the Big East tournament, which begins tomorrow at Madison Square Garden in New York. Pitt plays Louisville at 9 p.m. in a first-round game.

“It was good,” Kendall said. “It gave us a chance to regroup and get refocused. We’ve started to fade a little bit and lose focus the past few weeks. We talked about tightening up and taking care of the little details.

“At the beginning and middle part of the year we were buying into what the coaches were saying and were consistent with all the little things. You can see it when one guy doesn’t trust another guy and tries to make a play on defense. It ends up costing us because we’re not on the same page. We’re listening to the coaches and understanding what they have to say.”
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“Guys are putting too much stress on the offensive end and not enough stress on the defensive end,” Gray said. “I think that showed in the last game. We also have to cut down on turnovers. The biggest part of the meeting was cutting down on the little things. People don’t understand that one possession, one breakdown can lead to you winning or losing the game. We’ve confronted those issues and hopefully we’ll learn from them.”

This wasn’t a ‘players only’ type of meeting. The coaches were on hand as well.

OK, it wasn’t of the closed-door, players-only, yell-and-scream variety like after a midseason loss to St. John’s last season.

Actually, this one was scheduled. The coaches were there. The managers were there. The only thing impromptu was the discussion after a session of watching film on Louisville, the Panthers’ opponent in the first round of the Big East tournament (9 p.m., Wednesday; ESPN).

Yet, after two straight narrow losses to end the regular season – two games Pitt could have easily won had it cut down on mistakes – this was necessary.
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Dixon said that the Panthers are being too aggressive on defense, even taking their penchant for help defense too far – which Dixon called “over-helping.” Kendall said that the team just isn’t “on the same page” defensively Gray cited turnovers – pesky mistakes that have gnawed at the Panthers all season – as another reason for the disappointing finish.

The over-helping is accurate. It’s what burned them the second time against WVU and at key moments with Seton Hall. It almost seemed like the players not only got over-anxious, but sought to match what the opposition was doing. They’d double-team Gray, so Pitt players would do the same with their inside guy. I’m over-simplifying, but Pitt has to stick to a stronger man-to-man given the quality opponents in the BET and the NCAA.