Bevo Francis Award

Bevo Francis Award

Awarded for	the nation’s top small college basketball player
Country	United States
Presented by	Small College Basketball Foundation
History
First award	2016
Most recent	MJ Iraldi, Nova Southeastern
Website	Bevo Francis Award

The Bevo Francis Award is an American college basketball award given annually since 2016. The award recognizes the top small college basketball player in the United States for a given season. The award is named after the late Bevo Francis, who earned national acclaim and All-American status for Rio Grande College in the 1950s.

Eligible players must come from below NCAA Division I. Players are eligible if they compete in one of the following college basketball divisions: NCAA Divisions II or III; NAIA (and while the NAIA had classifications of Divisions I or II between 2016 and 2020); USCAA Divisions I or II; and NCCAA Divisions I or Division II.

The first winner was Dominez Burnett of Davenport University. Only two schools, Northwest Missouri State University and Nova Southeastern University, have won the award more than once.

Winners

Dominez Burnett, Davenport, 2016

Season	Player	School	Class	Division	Reference
2015–16	Dominez Burnett	Davenport	Senior	NAIA Division II	[1]
2016–17	Justin Pitts	Northwest Missouri State	Junior	NCAA Division II	[1] [2]
2017–18	Emanuel Terry	Lincoln Memorial	Senior	NCAA Division II	[1] [3]
2018–19	Aston Francis	Wheaton (IL)	Senior	NCAA Division III	[1] [4]
2019–20	Kyle Mangas	Indiana Wesleyan	Junior	NAIA Division II	[5]
2020–21	Not awarded
2021–22	Trevor Hudgins	Northwest Missouri State	Senior	NCAA Division II	[6]
2022–23	RJ Sunahara	Nova Southeastern	Junior	NCAA Division II	[7]
2023–24	Elijah Malone	Grace	Senior	NAIA	[8]
2024–25	MJ Iraldi	Nova Southeastern	Senior	NCAA Division II	[9]

Winners by school

School	Winners	Years
Northwest Missouri State	2	2017, 2022
Nova Southeastern	2	2023, 2025
Davenport	1	2016
Grace	1	2024
Indiana Wesleyan	1	2020
Lincoln Memorial	1	2018
Wheaton (IL)	1	2019

References

1. "West named top player in NCAA DIII". Longview News-Journal . Longview, Texas. March 22, 2020. p. C4. Retrieved March 16, 2024– via Newspapers.com. 2020 marks the fifth 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, and Aston Francis of Wheaton College in 2019.
2. "Pitts named Bevo Francis Award winner". St. Joseph News-Press . St. Joseph, Missouri. April 4, 2017. p. C1. Retrieved March 16, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
3. "Emanuel Terry lauded with 2018 Bevo Francis Award". LMURailsplitters.com. Lincoln Memorial University. April 2, 2018. Retrieved March 16, 2024.
4. Ogden, Brandon (April 13, 2023). "Aston Francis new boys basketball coach at All Saints". Tyler Morning Telegraph . Tyler, Texas. p. B3. Retrieved March 16, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
5. "No Bevo Francis Award for Argo". Billings Gazette . Billings, Montana. April 7, 2020. p. B1. Retrieved March 16, 2024– via Newspapers.com. Kyle Mangas of Indiana Wesleyan has won the Bevo Francis Award over Providence's Zacheus Darko-Kelly and 12 other small-college players, Small College Basketball announced Monday.
6. "Hudgins named 2022 Bevo Francis Award winner". BearcatSports.com. Northwest Missouri State University. April 4, 2022. Retrieved March 16, 2024.
7. Villa, Walter (April 5, 2023). "This and That". Miami Herald . Miami, Florida. p. A22. Retrieved March 16, 2024– via Newspapers.com. In addition, NSU forward RJ Sunahara has won the Bevo Francis Award, given to the best player not competing in Division I.
8. "Malone honored as 2024 Bevo Francis Award winner". GCLancers.com. Grace College & Seminary. April 8, 2024. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
9. "MJ Iraldi honored as Bevo Francis Award recipient". NSUSharks.com. Nova Southeastern University. April 7, 2025. Retrieved April 18, 2025.

External links

• Official site