KJ Jones of Emmanuel Represents Conference Carolinas on Bevo Francis Award Top 100 Watch List
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Small College Basketball and the National Awards Committee announced the Top 100 watch list for the 2023-24 Bevo Francis Award and KJ Jones II of Emmanuel earned the honor for the third straight season.
Jones II currently leads NCAA Division II in points per game (25.9) and total points (466). The junior from Atlanta, Georgia is shooting at a 48.0 percent (130-of-271) clip and leads the league in free throw percentage (.892). He is also fourth in Conference Carolinas in assists (69) and sixth in the league in assists per game (3.8 per game).
The 2024 Bevo Francis Top 100 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. 2024 marks the eighth year of the Bevo Francis Award. 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 Hudgins of Northwest Missouri State University in 2022. In 2023, RJ Sunahara of Nova Southeastern was named the winner of the Bevo Francis Award.
On February 15th, the list will be reduced to the Top 50 players. One month later on March 15th, the Top 25 players will be announced. 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 (Ky.), Bill Dreikosen - Rocky Mountain (Mont.), Mark Berokoff – Oklahoma City, Mike Donnelly – Florida Southern, Sam Hargraves – Olivet (Mich.), Richard Westerlund – Great Lakes Christian, Chase Tiechmann – Florida College, Aaron Siebenthall – Ottawa (Kan.), Mark Vanderslice – USC – Aiken, Matt O’Brien – Southwestern (Kan.), Chris Wright – Langston (Okla.), Ben Thompson – Emory & Henry, Justin Leslie – Midwestern State, Raul Placeres – Maryville College (Tenn.), Chris Martin – Loras (Iowa), John Lamanna – Whitman (Wash.), Brian Miller – MSOE, Justin Downer – Point Loma Nazarene.
Read the full release and see the full 100 here.