Brad Wanamaker Wins Big East Sportsmanship Award
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - After being named to the All-Big East Second-Team, Pitt senior Brad Wanamaker picked up another award on Monday.
Wanamaker became the third Pitt player to be awarded the Big East Sportsmanship Award. Jaron Brown (2003-04) and Ronald Ramon (2007-08) are the other two Pitt Players to win the award.
Yesterday on the FAN Morning Show, head coach Jamie Dixon said Wanamaker had a chance to win this award because he is well-respected throughout the conference.
Dixon also thought senior Gary McGhee deserved to win the Defensive Player of the Year Award, but that went to Rick Jackson of Syracuse.
The Big East Conference will announce the Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Scholar-Athlete awards at a press conference in New York City on Tuesday. The Big East Tournament kicks off Tuesday at noon. Pitt has a double-round bye and won't play until Thursday at noon against the Georgetown vs. UConn or Depaul winner.
Below is the press release from Pittsburgh Panthers.
PROVIDENCE, R.I.—Senior guard Brad Wanamaker (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic H.S.) was named the recipient of the Big East Sportsmanship Award, the league office announced on Monday. Wanamaker becomes the third Pitt player to win the Sportsmanship Award, following in the footsteps of Jaron Brown (2003-04) and Ronald Ramon (2007-08). The award is voted upon by the league's 16 head coaches.
An All-Big East Second Team selection, Wanamaker is regarded for his all-around play. Earlier this year, he joined Carl Krauser (2002-06) as one of only two players in Panthers history to register over 1,000 points, grab 500 rebounds and dish out 400 assists in a career. Wanamaker also became one of only three players in school history to average over 10.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists in two different seasons (Krauser and Jerry McCullough). In addition, Wanamaker is one of only five players in program annals to accumulate over 300 points and 150 assists in two seasons.
This season, Wanamaker has registered two double-doubles, scored over 20 points three times and reached double figure scoring in 19 of 31 games. He leads the Panthers in minutes played (934), free throws made (105), assists (160), assist:turnover ratio (2.29) and steals (48) while ranking second in scoring (11.9 ppg.), rebounding (5.3 rpg.) and field goals made (124). Among Big East leaders, Wanamaker is ranked 28th in scoring, fourth in assists, 11th in steals and third in assist:turnover ratio.
A finalist for the Wooden and Naismith All-America honors, Wanamaker enters postseason play with 1,059 points, 511 rebounds and 440 assists, 131 games played and 65 starts over his four-year career.
Big East regular season champion and No. 1 seed Pitt (27-4, 15-3 Big East) opens Big East Championship competition on Thursday, March 10 at Noon against either DePaul, Connecticut or Georgetown. The contest will be nationally televised on ESPN.
The Big East also announced several other awards including Most Improved Player—Dwight Hardy, St. John's; Defensive Player of the Year—Rick Jackson, Syracuse; and the Sixth Man Award—Justin Burrell, St. John's. The Big East Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Scholar-Athlete awards will be announced at a Tuesday press conference at Madison Square Garden.
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