Nivins named Big 5 Player of the Year

We finally have the answer to the season's last big question: Ahmad Nivins of St. Joe's has won the Robert V. Geasey Trophy as the Big 5's Most Outstanding Player.

You could argue for Dionte Christmas, and I would have if asked to vote at the end of the regular season. You could argue for Dante Cunningham, and if ballots were cast this week he'd probably have won it.

But regardless of timing, if you take either of them off their respective teams would it have anywhere near the kind of impact as St. Joe's without Nivins? No.

Having said that, the award is for Most Outstanding Player, not Most Valuable. But Nivins' numbers make one heck of a case: 19.2 points and 11.8 rebounds a game and 61.2% field goal shooting in an average of 39.3 minutes per game.

That last number is really something for a big man.

Cunningham averaged 16.1 points and 7.4 rebounds a game and shot 52.5 percent from the field, by comparison. Christmas averaged a City Series-best 19.5 points per game, but as a guard it's not as easy to make a straight statistical comparison to Nivins.

Who would you have chosen?

All-Big 5 First Team

C Ahmad Nivins (St. Joseph's)
F Dante Cunningham (Villanova)
G Scottie Reynolds (Villanova)
G Dionte Christmas (Temple)
G Rodney Green (La Salle)

All-Big 5 Second Team

F Lavoy Allen (Temple)
F Dwayne Anderson (Villanova)
G/F Reggie Redding (Villanova)
G Corey Fisher (Villanova)
G Tasheed Carr (St. Joseph's)