PHILADELPHIA – The Philadelphia Big 5 has announced its postseason awards for the 2016-17 men’s basketball season, and a pair of University of Pennsylvania players were named to the All-Big 5 teams as senior Matt Howard and freshman AJ Brodeur both received second-team All-Big 5 recognition.

Howard, Brodeur and all of this year’s award winners will be honored at the annual Big 5 banquet which will take place Monday, April 17, at The Palestra. Doors will open at 6 p.m., with the awards ceremony scheduled for 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 ahead of time and can be ordered by clicking on the link at the top of this page; they will be $20 at the door the night of the event.

Along with the current season men’s and women’s award winners, the 2017 Big 5 Hall of Fame class will be inducted including former standout Penn guard Ibrahim Jaaber. This year’s Hall of Fame class also includes Carlene Hightower (La Salle), Jameer Nelson (Saint Joseph’s), Lynn Greer (Temple), Randy Foye (Villanova), George Raveling (Villanova), and longtime Philadelphia Inquirer sportswriter Bill Lyon.

Brodeur also was the first Penn freshman to earn second-team All-Ivy recognition since Ugonna Onyekwe in 2000 and also recently was named second-team All-Big 5. He finished the season as Penn’s leading scorer (13.8 ppg) and rebounder (6.9 rpg), finishing second among Ivy League players in rebound per game and sixth in points per game. Brodeur also blocked 66 shots, tops among Ivy League players and a program record for a single season. The freshman forward also had 27 steals, 54 assists, and finished third among Ivy League players in overall field-goal percentage and 10th in overall minutes per game. Brodeur was a four-time Ivy League Rookie of the Week and a two-time Philadelphia Big 5 Player of the Week this season.

Also an honorable mention All-Ivy selection, Howard finished second on the team in both scoring (12.4 ppg) and rebounding (6.8 rpg). He was fourth among Ivy players in overall rebounds per game and 12th in points per game. Howard led the Quakers in steals, with 33, finishing eighth among Ivy players in steals per game, and was second on the team with 41 three-point baskets and 20 double-figure scoring games. He finished seventh among Ivy players in overall field-goal percentage. Howard was named Ivy League Player of the Week for the final week of the season after he set career highs in points, rebounds and blocked shots in his 100th game at Penn, a 75-72 win over Harvard that closed out the regular season and clinched an Ivy Tournament berth for the Quakers

Not surprisingly, Big 5 champion Villanova – which spent much of the year at No. 1 in the national polls – swept most of the major awards. Josh Hart was the Big 5 Player of the Year, while Donte DiVincenzo was the Rookie of the Year. Wildcats head coach Jay Wright was named the Big 5 Coach of the Year.