While Pitt center DeJuan Blair couldn’t lead his team to the Final Four for the first time… While Pitt center DeJuan Blair couldn’t lead his team to the Final Four for the first time since 1941, he still found a way to make history this season.

The honor was the first for a Panther since Don Hennon earned it in 1958, 51 seasons ago. Hennon and Blair are the only players in Pitt history to earn the award.

‘I worked hard, and the hard work paid off,’ said Blair after he was informed that he was an All-American. ‘It’s pretty cool just to be up there with those guys and to be talked about.’

Blair was named to the Associated Press All-American first-team on Monday, joining Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin, North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough, Davidson’s Stephen Curry and Arizona State’s James Harden.

Blair was third in the overall voting and received 294 points, behind Griffin and Hansbrough. The sophomore averaged 15.6 points and 12.2 rebounds per game this year.

Blair wasn’t the only Panther to earn accolades. Senior forward Sam Young made the third team. Young finished his senior campaign averaging a career-best 19.2 points per game after tallying more than 23 points a game in the NCAA Tournament.

Blair’s nemesis from Connecticut, Hasheem Thabeet, led the second team, along with Luke Harangody of Notre Dame, Jerel McNeal of Marquette, Ty Lawson of North Carolina and Jodie Meeks of Kentucky.