Villanova guard Maalik Wayns announced that he will return to Villanova next season, ending speculation that he would test the NBA waters this summer.

The 6-foot-2, 185-pound Wayns averaged 13.8 points, 4.5 assists and 30.1 minutes per game in 2010-11.

He is projected as a second round pick by several draft outlets.

Kemba Walker led Connecticut to five victories in five consecutive nights to win the 2011 Big East Tournament.

Walker led all tournament participants in points, steals, minutes and FIC. Walker played in 190 of UConn's available 205 minutes.

Joining Walker on the Big East All-Tournament Team was teammate Jeremy Lamb, Peyton Siva and Preston Knowles (Louisville), Rick Jackson (Syracuse) and Scott Martin (Notre Dame).

• Click here to view RealGM’s comprehensive list of 2011 Conference Tournaments.

Ohio State is the No. 1 overall seed in the 2011 NCAA Tournament and will be placed in the East Region.

Joining the Buckeyes No. 1 seeds is Kansas in the Midwest, Pittsburgh in the Southeast and Duke in the West.

Pitt is the only No. 1 seed to not win their conference tournament, losing to eventual champion Connecticut in the quarterfinals.

San Diego State, North Carolina, Notre Dame and Florida are the No. 2 seeds, while Syracuse, Purdue, Connecticut and BYU are the No. 3 seeds. Kentucky, Louisville, Texas and Wisconsin are the No. 4 seeds.

Kansas and Duke were also No. 1 seeds in the 2010 NCAA Tournament, while Ohio State was a No. 2 and Pitt was a No. 3.

The Final Four will be held in Houston on April 2nd and 4th.

• Click here to view RealGM’s 2011 NCAA Tournament Page.

William Wesley watched South Florida’s comeback victory over Villanova with former Bulls star Ron Harper. During every timeout a string of visitors walked up to shake Wesley’s hand, writes Rick Bozich of the Courier-Journal.

Wesley was outfitted with a pair of plain white Nikes.

On the outside of both shoes these four letters were embossed in a gold color:

W  WES

Villanova lost, 70-69, in the first round of the Big East tournament to the 15th-seeded South Florida Bulls Tuesday night.

The Wildcats blew a 16-point halftime lead, making just four field goals in the second half and scoring just 20 points down the stretch.

"I thought we got tentative with the lead," Wildcats coach Jay Wright said afterward. "We haven't won a game in so long, everybody got scared and short with shots."

Maalik Wayns led the Wildcats with 24 points. Corey Stokes and Corey Fisher contributed 16 and 15 points, respectively.

Ben Hansbrough of Notre Dame has been named Big East Player of the Year.

Rick Jackson of Syracuse won Defensive Player of the Year, DePaul's Cleveland Melvin won Rookie of the Year and Dwight Hardy of St. John's won Most Improved Player honors.

Hansbrough was joined on the All-Big East First Team by Marshon Brooks (Providence), Austin Freeman (Georgetown), Ashton Gibbs (Pitt), Dwight Hardy (St. John's) and Kemba Walker (Connecticut).

On the All-Big East Second Team are Corey Fisher (Villanova), Rick Jackson (Syracuse), Darius Johnson-Odom (Marquette), Preston Knowles (Louisville) and Brad Wanamaker (Pitt).

The All-Rookie Team is comprised of Jeremy Lamb (Connecticut), Gilvydas Biruta (Rutgers), Sean Kilpatrick (Cincinnati), Melvin, Shabazz Napier (Connecticut) and Brandon Young (DePaul).

• Click here for more award information from the Big East.

No. 4 Pittsburgh beat No. 19 Villanova 60-50 on Saturday to lock up the No. 1 seed in the Big East Tournament.

Pitt shot just 41.5% from the floor, but the combination of nine offensive rebounds and just 12 turnovers allowed the Panthers to score 1.11 points per possession.

On the other end, Pitt held Villanova to just 50 points on 37.3% shooting.

Ashton Gibbs led the Panthers with 18.

No. 8 Notre Dame crushed No. 19 Villanova 93-72 on Monday night to finish their home schedule unbeaten this season.

Tim Abromaitis hit a career-high nine three-pointers and he and Ben Hansbrough each scored 30 points for the Fighting Irish.

The victory ensured a double bye in the Big East tournament for Notre Dame and wrapped up a 17-0 season at home, the only team to go unbeaten on its home court in the conference this season.

"It means a lot because I told these guys before the game to do it for us. I said let's not do it for anybody else, just do it for ourselves, because of how hard we worked," Hansbrough said.

Notre Dame hit a school-record 20 three-pointers.