Small College Basketball released its preliminary watchlist for the Bevo Francis Award for the 2019 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
Lincoln Memorial's Emanuel Terry was the winner of the 2018 award. Aside from averaging a double-double (16.9 points, 10.3 rebounds per game) for the school that finished atop the DII men's basketball regular season rankings, Terry was known for highlight-reel dunks that garnered the nation's attention.
Fifty DII men's basketball student-athletes comprise half of the initial Top 100. Only Northwest Missouri State's Trevor Hudgins is a freshman.
MORE: Keep an eye on these impact freshmen as the DII tournament approaches
The list will be cut three more times before the winner is announced on April 8. Here are the important dates:
- Feb. 15, 2019: Top 50
- March 15, 2019: Top 25
- April 6, 2019: Finalists
- April 8, 2019: The 2019 Bevo Francis Award winner announced
The complete watchlist is below in alphabetical order.
| Name | Year | School |
|---|---|---|
| Stephaun Adams | Sr. | Campbellsville |
| Daquaise Andrews | Sr. | Southern New Hampshire |
| Buzz Anthony | So | Randolph-Macon |
| Zach Baines | Sr. | Occidental |
| Jason Beckman | Sr. | Hope |
| Tommy Bolte | Sr. | Concord (WV) |
| Dalton Bolon | So. | West Liberty |
| Elisha Boone | Sr. | West Virginia Tech |
| Ben Boots | Sr. | Wisconsin-Oshkosh |
| Keith Brown | Jr. | Endicott |
| Daniel Carr | Jr. | Queens (NC) |
| Luke Chavez | Sr. | St. Martin’s |
| Harrison Cleary | Jr. | Minnesota Crookston |
| Chris Coffey | Jr. | Georgetown (KY) |
| Ben College | Jr. | Whitworth |
| Kendrick Colvin | Sr. | Emmanuel (GA) |
| Trevion Crews | So. | Bethel (IN) |
| Vinny Curta | Sr. | Grinnell |
| Jack Davidson | So. | Wabash |
| Gage Davis | Sr. | St. Cloud State |
| Doniel Dean | Sr. | USC-Aiken |
| Jayvian Delacruz | Sr. | Pikeville |
| David Dennis | Sr. | Nova Southeastern |
| Jacobo Diaz | Sr. | IUP |
| Adam Dieball | Sr. | Christian Brothers |
| Nate Dodge | Sr. | Wisconsin-Stevens Point |
| Grant Dressler | Sr. | Chaminade |
| Jhonathan Dunn | Jr. | Southern Nazarene |
| Nolan Ebel | Sr. | Augustana (IL) |
| Adam Eberhard | Sr. | Bellarmine |
| Marcos Echevarria | Sr. | Nichols |
| Trevon Evans | Sr. | Sioux Falls |
| Cam Fails | Sr. | Hanover |
| Aston Francis | Sr. | Wheaton |
| Ryan Garver | Sr. | Nebraska Wesleyan |
| Kena Gilmour | Jr. | Hamilton |
| Tim Guers | Sr. | St. Anselm |
| Chris Hansen | Jr. | UC San Diego |
| Ryan Hawkins | So. | Northwest Missouri State |
| Josh Hawley | Jr. | Tarleton State |
| Juvaris Hayes | Jr. | Merrimack |
| T.J. Henderson | Sr. | Marian |
| Joey Hewitt | Sr. | Whitman |
| Lyle Hexom | Sr. | Peru State |
| Amir Hinton | Jr. | Shaw |
| Ty Hoglun | Jr. | Dakota Wesleyan |
| Daulton Hommes | Jr. | Point Loma |
| Trevor Hudgins | Fr. | Northwest Missouri State |
| Cameron Hunt | Sr. | Southwestern (KS) |
| Trevor Jasinsky | Jr. | Western Washington |
| Isaiah Johnson | Sr. | Northern Michigan |
| Jamie Johnson | Sr. | IU-Southeast |
| Bradley Jomard | Sr. | MIT |
| Beau Justice | Sr. | Valdosta State |
| Jevon Knox | So. | Mount Vernon Nazarene |
| Jonathan Lawton | Sr. | Florida Southern |
| Anthony Lee | Sr. | Kutztown |
| Grant Lozoya | Sr. | Pittsburg State |
| Kyle Mangas | So. | Indiana Wesleyan |
| Paul Marandet | Jr. | Spring Arbor |
| Cam Martin | So. | Missouri Southern |
| Justin Martin. Jr. | Jr. | Multnomah |
| Kendale McCullum | Sr. | Lewis |
| Prince McDaniel | Jr. | Stillman |
| Drushaun McLaurn | Sr. | Eckerd |
| Jordan Murdock | Sr. | Friends (KS) |
| Brandon Myer | Jr. | Minnesota Duluth |
| Drew Noble | Jr. | Ashland |
| Jonathan Patron | Sr. | Plattsburgh |
| Ryan Quaid | Sr. | West Texas A&M |
| Connor Raridon | Jr. | North Central College |
| Nic Reed | Jr. | Olivet Nazarene |
| Ryan Richmond | Sr. | Bentley |
| Kyle Ridley | Sr. | Pfeiffer |
| Kyle Roach | Sr. | Whitworth |
| Brady Rose | Sr. | Illinois Wesleyan |
| Jake Ross | Jr. | Springfield (MA) |
| Jared Samuelson | Jr. | Rocky Mountain |
| Omar Sherman | Sr. | William Penn |
| Andrew Sischo | So. | Daemen |
| Ian Smith | Sr. | Northern State (SD) |
| Sean Smith | Sr. | St. Cloud State |
| Nate Schimonitz | Jr. | Nebraska Wesleyan |
| Micah Speight | Jr. | Southern Nazarene |
| Alex Stein | Sr. | Southern Indiana |
| Troy Steward | Sr. | Georgetown (KY) |
| Wes Stowers | Sr. | Marian |
| Corey Taite | Sr. | Goldey-Beacom |
| Cornelius Taylor | Jr. | Lincoln Memorial |
| Micah Till | Jr. | Slippery Rock |
| Malik Toppin | Sr. | Salem International |
| Trenton Thompson | Sr. | Asbury |
| Hagen Tyler | Sr. | Campbellsville |
| Sam Vander Sluis | Sr. | Cornerstone |
| Demitrius Underwood | Jr. | Texas-Dallas |
| Will Vorhees | Sr. | Notre Dame (OH) |
| Alex White | Sr. | Findlay |
| Shaun Willett | Sr. | Queens (NC) |
| Joey Witthus | Sr. | Northwest Missouri State |
| Jay Wolfe | Sr. | Briar Cliff |
