Johnson 1st team all star
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Syracuse forward Wes Johnson was named to the All-Big East Conference first team on Sunday.
Senior guard Andy Rautins was a second-team selection and freshman guard Brandon Triche earned all-rookie honors as the conference's head coaches choose the all-conference teams. The coaches are not permitted to vote for their own players.
Six players were named to the first team. The Player of the Year will come from that list. The other first-team selections are: Greg Monroe of Georgetown, Luke Harangody of Notre Dame, Dominique Jones of USF, Scottie Reynolds of Villanova, Da'Sean Butler of West Virginia.
Reynolds was the lone unanimous selection, and Harangody won the honor for the third straight season.
Johnson, a junior transfer from Iowa State, has started all 31 games for the Orange and has averaged a squad-best 15.7 points, 8.5 rebounds and 34.5 minutes played. In conference-only statistics, Johnson ranked third in blocked shots (1.83), third in defensive rebounds (6.56), sixth in rebounding (8.8), sixth in minutes played (36.83), tied for 11th in steals (1.44), tied for 16th in scoring (14.8),
Rautins and Triche have also made all 31 starts for SU. Rautins has averaged 11.6 points and a team-leading 4.8 steals and 2.1 steals per game. He finished tied for second in the Big East in free-throw percentage (.875), second in three-point average (2.78), fourth in steals (1.72) and tied for eighth in assists (4.22). Triche has produced 8.3 points per outing and 3.0 assists a game.
The conference will announce Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Scholar-Athlete on Tuesday, March 9.
Reynolds, a 6-foot-2 senior guard, led the Wildcats in scoring (18.8), but it was his penchant for second-half heroics that kept Villanova in the top 10 all season.
The 6-8 Harangody led the conference in scoring (23.3) and was third in rebounding (9.7). He missed five games with a knee injury, but returned Saturday and scored five points in 11 minutes in an overtime win against Marquette. He is the 11th player to be selected to the first team for three straight years and the first since Troy Bell of Boston College from 2001-03.
Butler, a second-team choice last season, led the Mountaineers in scoring (17.2) and rebounding (6.3).
Jones led the conference in scoring (23.2) and led the Bulls to their best season ever.
Monroe, the rookie of the year last season, was second on the Hoyas in scoring (16.0) and his 9.6 rebounds were fourth in the conference.
Also on the second team were senior Lazar Hayward of Marquette, juniors Austin Freeman of Georgetown and Jeremy Hazell of Seton Hall, and sophomore Ashton Gibbs of Pittsburgh.
The third team was senior Jerome Dyson of Connecticut, junior Corey Fisher of Villanova and sophomores Kemba Walker of Connecticut, Samardo Samuels of Louisville and Devin Ebanks of West Virginia.
Lance Stephenson of Cincinnati and Dane Miller of Rutgers were unanimous selections to the all-rookie team and were joined by Alex Oriakhi of Connecticut, Vincent Council of Providenceand Maalik Wayns of Villanova.
