Pitt may not have won the Big East championship, but it walked away with more than its share of the conference awards yesterday.

Tailback Dion Lewis was named the conference's offensive player of the year as well as the rookie of the year, and end Greg Romeus and tackle Mick Williams were named co-defensive players of the year.

Lewis is the first Pitt player to win the top offensive award since Larry Fitzgerald in 2002 and is the second in three years (LeSean McCoy, 2007) to win the rookie honor. He is also the first player in the Big East to win those two awards since Michael Vick (Virginia Tech) in 1999.

This is the third time in four years (H.B. Blades in 2006, Scott McKillop last year) that Pitt has claimed the defensive player of the year.

In addition to the award winners, the Big East announced the all-conference teams, and Pitt set a school record by having 14 players honored. All of the awards and all-conference teams are voted on by league coaches.

The honored Panthers were as follows:

• First-team offense members are wide receiver Jonathan Baldwin, tackle Jason Pinkston, guard John Malecki, tight end Dorin Dickerson, quarterback Bill Stull (co-first team with Tony Pike) and Lewis.

• First-team defense members are Romeus, Williams, linebacker Adam Gunn and cornerback Aaron Berry.

• Tight end Nate Byham and kicker Dan Hutchins were second-team offense and tackle Gus Mustakas and safety Dom DeCicco were second-team defense.

West Virginia also had 10 players honored. Tailback Noel Devine, kicker Tyler Bitancurt, linebacker J.T. Thomas, cornerback Brandon Hogan and safety Robert Sands were first-team members. Offensive tackle Selvish Capers, quarterback Jarrett Brown, defensive lineman Chris Neild, linebacker Reed Williams and punter Scott Kozlowski were second team.

Also, Cincinnati return man Mardy Gilyard is special teams player of the year and Cincinnati's Brian Kelly is coach of the year.

One other player was honored: Connecticut defensive back Jasper Howard, who was murdered on campus earlier this year, was named the honorary captain of the All-Big East teams.

"We regard the Big East Conference as the biggest family in collegiate athletics," said commissioner John Marinatto. "As a family, we wanted to respectfully remember Jasper Howard and honor his memory. In naming him the honorary captain of the 2009 All-Big East team, we have memorialized his name in Big East Conference history."

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