Small College Basketball released its first watchlist for the Bevo Francis Award for the 2022-23 season. The first list features 100 players from DII, DIII, NAIA, USCAA and NCCAA men's basketball.
The award was created in 2015 and is named after Clarence "Bevo" Francis. Francis played two seasons at what is now the University of Rio Grande. In his first season, he led the team to a 39-0 record averaging 50.1 points per game, highlighted by a 116-point performance against Ashland College in Kentucky.
HISTORY: Francis highlights the best single-seasons in DII lore
DII men's basketball's Trevor Hudgins was the previous winner. Hudgins capped his career last season with his third-straight national championship, third MIAA player of the year award, and second NABC DII player of the year award as one of the leaders of the Northwest Missouri State dynasty. He was the second Bearcat to win the award since 2017, with Justin Pitts taking the honors that season.
REMEMBERING FRANCIS: A look back at his career
From the DII men's basketball perspective, there are:
- Forty-two players represented on the list.
- Seven schools with two players on the list — Colorado Mesa, Colorado School of Mines, East Stroudsburg, Indiana (PA), Northern State, Northwest Missouri State and Nova Southeastern
- Three players from last year's Top 25 list heading into the DII men's basketball championship tournament — Tyshaun Crawford from Augusta, Joel Scott from Black Hills State, and RJ Sunahara from Nova Southeastern.
The list will be cut three more times before the winner is announced on April 3. Here are the important dates:
- February 15, 2023: Top 50
- March 15, 2023: Top 25
- April 1, 2023: Finalists
- April 3, 2023: The 2019 Bevo Francis Award winner announced
| Name | Year | School |
|---|---|---|
| Ethan Anderson | Sr. | Wisconsin-La Crosse |
| Kaden Anderson | Sr. | Point Loma |
| Shaw Anderson | Jr. | Seattle Pacific |
| Raheem Anthony | Sr. | St. Mary’s (MN) |
| Dejon Barney | Jr. | IU South Bend |
| Trevor Baskin | So. | Colorado Mesa |
| Diego Bernard | Sr. | Northwest Missouri State |
| Sam Beskind | Sr. | Colorado School of Mines |
| Jesse Bingham | So. | UIndy |
| Max Bjorklund | Sr. | Northern Michigan |
| Drew Blair | Sr. | Minnesota Duluth |
| Octavio Brito | So. | Keene State |
| Levi Borchert | Jr. | UW-Oshkosh |
| Marcus Boykin | So. | Barton |
| Jalen Brooks | Sr. | LSU-Shreveport |
| Anthony Brown | Sr. | Mid-America Nazarene |
| Julius Brown | Sr. | West Texas A&M |
| Fillip Bulatovic | Sr. | Carthage |
| Bryce Butler | Jr. | West Liberty |
| Rich Byhre | Sr. | Rockhurst |
| DJ Campbell | Jr. | Stockton |
| Jamal Cannady | So. | Bryn Athyn |
| Dan Carr | Sr. | Augustana (IL) |
| Frank Champion | So. | North Georgia |
| Taeshon Cherry | Sr. | Marian (IN) |
| Luke Chicone | So. | John Carroll |
| Cevin Clark | Jr. | Southwestern (KS) |
| Daniel Cook | Sr. | St. John Fisher |
| Tyshaun Crawford | Sr. | Augusta |
| Tyson Cruickshank | Sr. | Wheaton (IL) |
| Antwaan Cushingberry | Sr. | St. Francis (IN) |
| Frankie Davidson | Jr. | Grace (IN) |
| Vinny DeAngelo | Jr. | Swarthmore |
| Josiah De’laCerda | Sr. | Ottawa (AZ) |
| Omari DeVeaux | So. | Virginia Wesleyan |
| Ely Doble | Jr. | Morningside |
| Jacob Drees | Sr. | Cedarville |
| Nick Fort | Sr. | Asbury |
| Zach Goodline | Sr. | Huntington |
| Austin Grunder | Sr. | Cortland |
| Tristan Harper | Sr. | Langston |
| Jesse Hafemeister | Jr. | Catholic |
| Matt Helwig | Sr. | North Central (IL) |
| Jake Hilmer | Sr. | Upper Iowa |
| CJ Hines | So. | Faulkner |
| Jahn Hines | Jr. | Christopher Newport |
| Jarred Houston | Sr. | Emerson |
| Jason Hubbard | Sr. | Taylor |
| Trent Hudgens | So. | Arizona Christian |
| Jeff Hunter | Sr. | Keene State |
| Josiah Johnson | Sr. | Mary Hardin Baylor |
| Chaney Johnson | So. | Alabama-Huntsville |
| Reid Jolly | Jr. | Thomas More |
| KJ Jones | Jr. | Emmanuel (GA) |
| Shawndale Jones | Sr. | IUP |
| Jaeden King | Sr. | St. Xavier |
| Brandon Knapper | Sr. | Cal State San Bernardino |
| Akuel Kot | Jr. | Fort Lewis |
| John Paul Kromka | Sr. | Pitt-Johnstown |
| Zach Laput | Jr. | Bentley |
| Peter Lash | So. | Nebraska Wesleyan |
| Jaden Lietzke | Jr. | Oklahoma Wesleyan |
| Owen Long | Jr. | Emporia State |
| Drew Lutz | Sr. | Bethel (IN) |
| Rowan Mackenzie | Jr. | Lubbock Christian |
| Miles Mallory | Jr. | Randolph-Macon |
| Sam Masten | Sr. | Northern State |
| Seth Maxwell | Sr. | Indiana Wesleyan |
| Lakeem McAliley | So. | East Stroudsburg |
| Riley Minix | Sr. | Southeastern (FL) |
| Cody Mitchell | Sr. | Illinois Wesleyan |
| Jacksen Moni | So. | Northern State |
| Brendan Mora | Sr. | Pomona-Pitzer |
| Dave Morris | Sr. | Indiana (PA) |
| Robert Osborne | Sr. | Virginia Union |
| Christian Parker | Jr. | Mount Union |
| Tylandrius Parks | Sr. | Union (TN) |
| Logan Pearson | Jr. | Wisconsin-Platteville |
| Carlos Pepin | Sr. | East Stroudsburg |
| Josh Pritchett | Sr. | Evangel |
| Chase Rankin | Sr. | Lincoln Memorial |
| Sesan Russell | Sr. | Florida Tech |
| Isaiah Sanders | Sr. | Fairmont State |
| Tyler Schmidt | Jr. | Olivet Nazarene |
| Joel Scott | Sr. | Black Hills State |
| Matt Simpson | Sr. | Florida College |
| Alex Sobel | Sr. | Middlebury |
| Bennett Stirtz | Fr. | Northwest Missouri State |
| RJ Sunahara | Jr. | Nova Southeastern |
| Josh Talbert | Sr. | Randolph-Macon |
| Adam Thistlewood | Sr. | Colorado School of Mines |
| Ryan Thissen | Jr. | St. John’s (MN) |
| Blaise Threatt | So. | Colorado Mesa |
| Markelle Turner | Jr. | Union (KY) |
| Jo Valrie | So. | Point Park |
| Mason Walters | Sr. | Jamestown |
| Jaden Wells | So. | Central Oklahoma |
| Malik Willingham | Jr. | Minnesota State |
| Drew Wyman | So. | College of Idaho |
| Will Yoakum | Sr. | Nova Southeastern |
