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NCAA.com | January 17, 2023

The initial Top 100 Bevo Francis watchlist released

DII college basketball: Trevor Hudgins sinks game-winner for Northwest Missouri State's 7th-straight MIAA title

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

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