Scottie’s Award Show

 

Reynolds was named a first team All-American by both The Sporting News and Yahoo! Sports, and the announcement came just after he became the only unanimous selection to the First Team All-Big East squad. Although The Sporting News and Yahoo! Sports All-American selections aren’t the most prestigious honors, they may be a sign of what the Associated Press’ team will look like.

Despite being the lone unanimous Big East first-teamer, Reynolds lost out on Big East Player of the Year to Syracuse’s Wesley Johnson in a surprising upset. While Johnson had a tremendous start to the season, his play faltered late after an injury to the wrist on his shooting hand.

In addition to the injury, teammate Andy Rautins was also a candidate for the award, and many thought he may steal some of Johnson’s votes. Apparently not. Reynolds had a higher scoring average in conference play, but several of his defensive numbers failed to compare with Johnson’s. While both were deserving candidates, Johnson’s selection came as a shocker.

Other guards receiving All-American recognition by the Sporting News and Yahoo! included Ohio State’s Evan Turner, Kentucky’s John Wall, Oklahoma State’s James Anderson and Maryland’s Greivis Vasquez.

 

 Szczur’s Week

 

Villanova’s do-it-all athlete Matt Szczur has had a pretty special past few days.

This past weekend, Szczur, along with football Head Coach Andy Talley, was presented with an award from the Maxwell Club. The Club named him its Tri-State Player of the Year while Talley was given the prestigious President’s Award. Szczur can add this recognition to a host of other awards including CAA Offensive Player of the Year.

More importantly, Szczur has been preparing to take medication for his well-publicized bone marrow donation. Prior to the football national championship game, Szczur was named a match for bone marrow to a young girl suffering from cancer. The surgery was postponed, however, by the family. 

But on March 15, the football and baseball star will become some little girl’s hero, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

 

Lacrosse Honors

 

The men’s lacrosse team has had a number of things to be proud of considering its time in the Big East has been only weeks. Now, sophomore Kevin Cunningham has been named Big East Offensive Player of the Week. 

Cunningham came up big in victories over Binghamton and Fairfield. 

Against Binghamton, he scored four goals in addition to seven assists. The second game was equally as impressive. He finished that contest with two goals and three assists. 

Cunningham wasn’t the only men’s lacrosse player to grab a weekly accolade. Junior Brian Karalunas was elected to the Big East Honor Roll.

Karalunas, a long-stick middie, grabbed eight ground balls while forcing six turnovers. He was joined by Syracuse’s Chris Daniello, Notre Dame’s David Earl, Georgetown’s Rickey Mirabito and Rutgers’ Justin Pennington.