Small College Basketball and the National Awards Committee released its first watchlist for the Bevo Francis Award for the 2021-22 season. The first list features 100 players from DII, DIII, NAIA, USCAA, and NCCAA men's college 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
Aston Francis of DIII men's basketball Wheaton was the winner in 2019. Lincoln Memorial's Emanuel Terry was the last winner from DII men's basketball to bring home the award, winning in 2018, 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 that season. The most recent winner — Kyle Mangas — was from the NAIA and Small College Basketball decided not to name a winner in the abbreviated 2021 season.
REMEMBERING FRANCIS: A look back at his career
The list will be cut three more times before the winner is announced on April 4. Here are the important dates:
- February 15, 2022: Top 50
- March 15, 2022: Top 25
- April 2, 2022: Finalists
- April 4, 2022: The 2022 Bevo Francis Award winner announced
The 2022 Bevo Francis Top-100 watchlist
| Name | Year | School |
|---|---|---|
| Nyameye Adom | Sr. | Wheaton (IL) |
| Philip Alston | So. | California (PA) |
| Austin Andrews | So. | Minnesota Duluth |
| Buzz Anthony | Sr. | Randolph-Macon |
| Marcus Azor | Sr. | UMass Dartmouth |
| Darryl Baker | Sr. | Talladega |
| Kevin Baker | Sr. | Lewis-Clark State |
| Ryan Batte | Jr. | Thomas More |
| Donyae Baylor-Carroll | Sr. | Penn State-Harrisburg |
| Diego Bernard | Sr. | Northwest Missouri State |
| Drew Blair | Jr. | Minnesota Duluth |
| Kevion Blaylock | Sr. | William Penn |
| Levi Borchert | Jr. | UW-Oshkosh |
| Nick Bowman | Sr. | Trine |
| Derrin Boyd | So. | Georgetown |
| Tray Buchanan | Sr. | Emporia State |
| Myles Burns | Sr. | Loyola (LA) |
| Bryce Butler | So. | West Liberty |
| Tim Cameron | Sr. | Central Methodist |
| Osbel Caraballo | Sr. | St. Thomas Aquinas |
| Patrick Cartier | Jr. | Hillsdale |
| Daniel Cook | Jr. | St. John Fisher |
| Romeo Crouch | Sr. | Embry-Riddle |
| Antwaan Cushingberry | Sr. | St. Francis (IN) |
| Lloyd Daniels | Sr. | Lubbock Christian |
| Frankie Davidson | So. | Grace (IN) |
| Jack Davidson | Sr. | Wabash |
| Brandon Davis | So. | Loyola (LA) |
| Vinny DeAngelo | So. | Swarthmore |
| Conner Delaney | Sr. | John Hopkins |
| Malik Duffy | Sr. | Chico State |
| Adam Dworsky | Sr. | Southeastern Oklahoma State |
| Kenny Dye | Jr. | Queens (NC) |
| David Ejah | So. | St. Francis (IN) |
| Trenton Gibson | Sr. | Tusculum |
| Jordan Guest | Jr. | Lincoln Memorial |
| Armoni Foster | Jr. | Indiana (Pa) |
| Alex Gross | Sr. | Olivet Nazarene |
| Matthew Helwig | Sr. | North Central (IL) |
| Parker Hicks | Sr. | Lubbock Christian |
| CJ Hines | Fr. | Faulkner |
| Trevor Hudgins | Sr. | Northwest Missouri State |
| Angelo Johnson | Sr. | Arizona Christian |
| Josiah Johnson | Jr. | Mary Hardin Baylor |
| DaJuan Jones | Sr. | Texas Permian Basin |
| KJ Jones | So. | Emmanuel (GA) |
| Kyran Jones | Jr. | Georgetown |
| Max Jones | Fr. | Tampa |
| Josh Kashila | Jr. | SAGU |
| Walt Kelser | Sr. | Ferris State |
| Brandon Knapper | Sr. | Cal State San Bernardino |
| Matthew Leritz | Sr. | Illinois Wesleyan |
| Spencer Levi | Sr. | UNC-Pembroke |
| Jaizec Lottie | Sr. | Flagler |
| Miles Mallory | So. | Randolph-Macon |
| Jordan Marshall | Sr. | Manhattan Christian |
| Jaecee Martin | Sr. | St. Joseph (CT) |
| Nykolas Mason | Sr. | SAGU |
| Seth Maxwell | Sr. | Indiana Wesleyan |
| Kortrijk Miles | Jr. | West Alabama |
| Riley Minix | Jr. | Southeastern (FL) |
| DiVant’e Moffitt | Sr. | Seattle Pacific |
| Terion Moss | Sr. | Maine-Farmington |
| Karmari Newman | Sr. | William Penn |
| Jack Nolan | Sr. | Washington U |
| Chris Paul | Sr. | St. Anselm |
| Christian Peevy | Sr. | Lynn |
| Burke Putnam | Sr. | Oklahoma Baptist |
| Isiah Reed | Sr. | Great Lakes Christian |
| Jake Rhode | Sr. | Elmhurst |
| Tyler Riemersma | Sr. | Augustana (SD) |
| Christian Rodriguez | Sr. | Cornerstone |
| Demetre Roberts | Sr. | St. Thomas Aquinas |
| Pat Robinson | Sr. | West Liberty |
| Isaiah Sanders | Sr. | Fairmont State |
| Jackson Sartain | Jr. | John Carroll |
| Matthew Schner | Sr. | Emory |
| Jaylon Scott | Sr. | Bethel (KS) |
| Joel Scott | Jr. | Black Hills State |
| Tamon Scruggs | Sr. | WV Tech |
| Quentin Shields | Sr. | Wisconsin-Platteville |
| Matt Simpson | Sr. | Florida College |
| Andrew Sischo | Sr. | Daemen |
| Jovan Sljivancanin | Sr. | Carroll |
| Jamari Smith | So. | Queens (NC) |
| Nick Smith | Sr. | Nova Southeastern |
| Jett Sternberger | So. | Southeastern Oklahoma State |
| RJ Sunahara | So. | Nova Southeastern |
| Sekou Sylla | Jr. | Nova Southeastern |
| Trent Temple | Sr. | Great Lakes Christian |
| Jordan Thomas | Sr. | Georgia College |
| Ryan Turell | Sr. | Yeshiva |
| Alex Van Kalsbeek | So. | Northwestern (IA) |
| Jake Van Tubbergen | Sr. | Grand Valley State |
| Markelle Turner | So. | Union (KY) |
| Jared Vitztum | Sr. | Fort Hays State |
| Isiah Wade | Sr. | Central Oklahoma |
| Mason Walters | Jr. | Jamestown |
| Lovell Williams | So. | Wisconsin-Stout |
| Zach Wrightsil | Sr. | Loyola (LA) |
