2021-22 Bevo Francis Award Top 50 Watch List
In the midst of another excellent season, Hillsdale College junior men's basketball player Patrick Cartier again made the cut as a prestigious award cut its watch list from 100 to 50.
This Tuesday, Small College Basketball and the NCAA National Awards Committee kept Cartier under consideration for the 2021-22 Bevo Francis Award, naming him to the top 50 watch list.
The award, created in 2015, honors the best non-NCAA Division I men's basketball player at the college level, and is open to players at the NCAA DII, NCAA DIII, NAIA, USCAA and NCCAA levels. It's named for Clarence "Bevo" Francis, a legend at the University of Rio Grande in Ohio who set multiple NCAA scoring records in the 50's, including averaging 50.1 points per game in the 1953-54 campaign. Hillsdale has a connection with Francis, as it was against the Chargers in 1954 that he set the single game NCAA scoring record of 113 points that still stands to this day.
Cartier had previously been named to the top 100 watch list on Saturday, Jan. 15, before surviving the cut-down in February.
The G-MAC Player of the Year, Male Athlete of the Year, and an All-American to both the NABC and D2CCA following the 2020-21 season, Cartier has been even better in 2021-22, scoring a G-MAC leading 21.9 points per game that ranks tied for 12th among all players at the NCAA Division II level.
The junior is not only one of the most prolific scorers in the country, but also one of the most efficient, with his 63.1 shooting percentage from the floor also ranking 14th nationally at the NCAA Division II level, and with most players ahead of him taking only a fraction of the shot attempts per game that Cartier does on a nightly basis.
Cartier has scored in double figures in every contest this season and has three of his five career games of 30 or more points during the 2021-22 campaign to date. He's carried a heavy load to help keep Hillsdale in striking distance of a third-straight G-MAC title despite increasingly challenging competition in the conference race.
The junior is the only G-MAC player and only DII Midwest Regional player to make both the top 100 and top 50 lists for the Bevo Francis Award, which includes players from all five classifications eligible for the award. The watch list will be winnowed from 50 to 25 on March 15, and the finalists for the award will be announced on April 2, with the winner receiving the award on April 4.
Hillsdale (16-6) plays on the road tonight at Lake Erie College at 5:30 p.m., before hosting the Storm in a rematch this Saturday, Feb. 19 at 3 p.m for its next two contests.
Photo by Anthony Lupi