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Temple LB Tyler Matakevich | Photo by: Mitchell Leff (Courtesy Temple Athletic Communications)
Former St. Joseph all-state linebacker and Connecticut Post Athlete of the Year Tyler Matakevich was named Big East Rookie of the Year Thursday.
UConn defensive end and Bridgeport Central alum Trevardo Williams was one of three UConn players to make Big East first team. He was a unanimous selection. Linebackers Sio Moore and Yawin Smallwood also took first-team honors. Overall, eight UConn players earned postseason honors.
Matakevich, a freshman and Stratford native, leaped into the starting linebacker role for the Owls’ fourth game of the season. He finished fourth in the Big East with 101 tackles and made at least 10 tackles in six games, including his first four starts. He recovered two fumbles, made three pass breakups and three tackles for a loss. He was named to the Big East second team.
Matakevich was a three-year starter and three-time all-state player at St. Joseph, where he helped the Hogs win back-to-back state championships in 2009-2010. He was the Connecticut Post‘s Athlete of the Year in 2011.
UConn guard Adam Masters, tight end Ryan Griffin, RS Nick Williams made Big East second team on offense. Cornerbacks Blidi Wrey-Wilson and Dwayne Gratz made second-team defense.
| ALL-BIG EAST FIRST TEAM | ||||||
| OFFENSE | ||||||
| Pos. | Player | School | Cl. | Ht. | Wt. | Hometown/High School |
| WR | Alec Lemon * | Syracuse | Sr. | 6-2 | 204 | Crofton, Md./Arundel |
| WR | DeVante Parker | Louisville | So. | 6-3 | 205 | Louisville, Ky./Ballard |
| OT | Eric Lefeld | Cincinnati | So. | 6-6 | 287 | Coldwater, Ohio/Coldwater |
| OT | Justin Pugh | Syracuse | Sr. | 6-5 | 297 | Holland, Pa./Council Rock South |
| OG | Austen Bujnoch | Cincinnati | Jr. | 6-5 | 285 | Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder |
| OG | Antwan Lowery | Rutgers | Jr. | 6-4 | 305 | Miami, Fla./Christopher Columbus |
| C | Mario Benavides | Louisville | Sr. | 6-4 | 280 | Los Fresnos, Texas/Los Fresnos |
| TE | Travis Kelce | Cincinnati | Sr. | 6-6 | 260 | Cleveland Heights, Ohio/Cleveland Heights |
| QB | Teddy Bridgewater | Louisville | So. | 6-3 | 218 | Miami, Fla./Northwestern |
| RB | Ray Graham | Pittsburgh | Sr. | 5-9 | 190 | Elizabeth, N.J./Elizabeth |
| RB | Montel Harris | Temple | Sr. | 5-10 | 207 | Jacksonville, Fla./Trinity Christian |
| K | Maikon Bonani | USF | Sr. | 5-10 | 176 | Lake Wales, Fla./Lake Wales |
| RS | Matt Brown | Temple | Sr. | 5-5 | 165 | Baltimore, Md./Peddie School/Milford Academy |
| DEFENSE | ||||||
| Pos. | Player | School | Cl. | Ht. | Wt. | Hometown/High School |
| DL | Dan Giordano | Cincinnati | Sr. | 6-4 | 260 | Frankford, Ill./Lincoln-Way East |
| DL | Trevardo Williams * | Connecticut | Sr. | 6-2 | 233 | Bridgeport, Conn./Canterbury |
| DL | Aaron Donald | Pittsburgh | Jr. | 6-0 | 275 | Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn Hills |
| DL | Scott Vallone | Rutgers | Sr. | 6-3 | 275 | Central Islip, N.Y./St. Anthony’s |
| LB | Greg Blair | Cincinnati | Sr. | 6-2 | 252 | Pittsburgh, Pa./Schenley/Lackawanna CC |
| LB | Sio Moore | Connecticut | Sr. | 6-2 | 229 | Apex, N.C./Apex |
| LB | Yawin Smallwood | Connecticut | So. | 6-3 | 235 | Worcester, Mass./Doherty |
| LB | Khaseem Greene * | Rutgers | Sr. | 6-1 | 230 | Elizabeth, N.J./Avon Old Farms |
| CB | Adrian Bushell | Louisville | Sr. | 5-11 | 184 | DeSoto, Texas/Cedar Valley CC |
| CB | Logan Ryan | Rutgers | Jr. | 6-0 | 190 | Berlin, N.J./Eastern |
| S | Duron Harmon | Rutgers | Sr. | 6-1 | 200 | Magnolia, Del./Caesar Rodney |
| S | Shamarko Thomas | Syracuse | Sr. | 5-10 | 206 | Virginia Beach, Va./Ocean Lakes |
| P | Brandon McManus | Temple | Sr. | 6-3 | 190 | Hatfield, Pa./North Penn |
* unanimous selection
| ALL-BIG EAST SECOND TEAM | ||||||
| OFFENSE | ||||||
| Pos. | Player | School | Cl. | Ht. | Wt. | Hometown/High School |
| WR | Mike Shanahan | Pittsburgh | Sr. | 6-5 | 225 | North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin |
| WR | Devin Street | Pittsburgh | Jr. | 6-4 | 190 | Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty |
| WR | Brandon Coleman | Rutgers | So. | 6-6 | 220 | Accokeek, Md./Bishop McNamara |
| OT | Alex Kupper | Louisville | Sr. | 6-3 | 298 | Louisville, Ky./Trinity |
| OT | Kaleb Johnson | Rutgers | So. | 6-4 | 300 | Jacksonville, Fla./Edward H. White |
| OT | Martin Wallace | Temple | Sr. | 6-6 | 300 | New York, N.Y./Beacon School |
| OG | Adam Masters | Connecticut | Sr. | 6-4 | 298 | Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman |
| OG | Mark Popek | USF | Sr. | 6-7 | 299 | Plant City, Fla./Plant City |
| C | Ryan Turnley | Pittsburgh | Sr. | 6-6 | 320 | Hopewell, Pa./Hopewell |
| QB | Ryan Nassib | Syracuse | Gr. | 6-3 | 227 | West Chester, Pa./Malvern Prep |
| TE | Ryan Griffin | Connecticut | Sr. | 6-6 | 247 | Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry |
| RB | George Winn | Cincinnati | Sr. | 5-11 | 210 | Southfield, Mich./Detroit Jesuit |
| RB | Jawan Jamison | Rutgers | So. | 5-8 | 200 | Stark, Fla./The Bolles School |
| K | Brandon McManus | Temple | Sr. | 6-3 | 190 | Hatfield, Pa./North Penn |
| RS | Nick Williams | Connecticut | Sr. | 5-10 | 184 | East Windsor, N.J./The Hun School |
| DEFENSE | ||||||
| Pos. | Player | School | Cl. | Ht. | Wt. | Hometown/High School |
| DL | Walter Stewart | Cincinnati | Sr. | 6-5 | 249 | Ashville, Ohio/Teays Valley |
| DL | Cory Grissom | USF | Sr. | 6-2 | 316 | La Grange, Ga./Troup County |
| DL | Brandon Sharpe | Syracuse | Sr. | 6-1 | 255 | Virginia Beach, Va./Ocean Lakes |
| DL | John Youboty | Temple | Sr. | 6-4 | 250 | Houston, Texas/Klein |
| LB | Preston Brown | Louisville | Jr. | 6-2 | 255 | Cincinnati, Ohio/Northwest |
| LB | Sam Barrington | USF | Sr. | 6-1 | 230 | Jacksonville, Fla./Terry Parker |
| LB | Tyler Matakevich | Temple | Fr. | 6-1 | 220 | Stratford, Conn./St. Joseph’s/Milford Academy |
| CB | Dwayne Gratz | Connecticut | Sr. | 6-0 | 198 | Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway |
| CB | Blidi Wreh-Wilson | Connecticut | Sr. | 6-2 | 190 | Edinboro, Pa./General McLaine |
| S | Calvin Pryor | Louisville | So. | 6-2 | 213 | Port St. Joe, Fla./Port St. Joe |
| S | Hakeem Smith | Louisville | Jr. | 6-1 | 187 | Jonesboro, Ga./Riverdale |
| S | Jason Hendricks | Pittsburgh | Jr. | 6-0 | 180 | Brooklyn, N.Y./Hudson Catholic |
| P | Pat O’Donnell | Cincinnati | Jr. | 6-5 | 222 | Lake Worth, Fla./Palm Beach Central |
| P | Justin Brockhaus-Kann | USF | Sr. | 6-2 | 214 | Winter Springs, Fla./Winter Springs |
SPB there’s that upcoming league the fciac putting players in college
go scc