KJ Jones II of Emmanuel Named to Bevo Francis Award Top 25 Watch List
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Small College Basketball and the National Awards Committee announced the Top 25 watch list for the 2022-23 Bevo Francis Award and KJ Jones II of Emmanuel made the list.
Jones, who led Emmanuel to the 2023 Atlantic Casualty Conference Carolinas Men’s Basketball Championship title and an NCAA Division II tournament appearance, continues to lead NCAA Division II in points per game (26.2) and is third in total points (761). He also finished the year seventh in Conference Carolinas in rebounding at 7.2 per game. The junior from Atlanta, Georgia shot at a 50.5 percent (214-for-424) clip and ranked second in the league in free throw percentage (.868) and seventh in 3-point percentage at 41.7 percent (58-for-139). He was also eighth in the league in assists per game (3.5) and seventh in steals at 1.7 per contest.
The 2023 Bevo Francis Top 25 Watch List consists of some of the top players from NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, NAIA, USCAA and NCCAA.
The Clarence “Bevo” Francis Award is presented annually to the player who has had the finest overall season within Small College Basketball. Considerations will be season statistics and individual achievements, awards, personal character and team achievements. This is an incredibly prestigious award, as this award will only be given to one player within Small College Basketball per season.
2023 marks the seventh year of the Bevo Francis Award, after the award was not presented in 2021. Past winners include Dominez Burnett of Davenport University in 2016, Justin Pitts of Northwest Missouri State University in 2017, Emanuel Terry of Lincoln Memorial University in 2018, Aston Francis of Wheaton College in 2019, Kyle Mangas of Indiana Wesleyan University in 2020 and Trevor Huggins of Northwest Missouri State in 2022.
On April 1st, the finalists of this year’s award will be announced, followed by the Bevo Francis Award winner being crowned on April 3rd.
The Bevo Francis Awards Committee consists of the following coaches: Gary Stewart - Stevenson (MD), Chris Briggs - Georgetown College (KY), Bill Dreikosen - Rocky Mountain (MT), Mark Berokoff - Oklahoma City, Mike Donnelly - Florida Southern, Sam Hargraves - Olivet, Stephen Brennan - Babson, Richard Westerlund - Great Lakes Christian, Chase Teichmann - Florida College, Aaron Siebenthall - Ottawa (KS), Tae Norwood - Humboldt State, Mark Vanderslice - USC - Aiken, Grant Leep - Seattle Pacific, Matt O'Brien - Southwestern (KS), Chris Wright - Langston (OK), Nathan Champion - LeMoyne.
Read the full release and see the full 25 here.