KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Southwest Minnesota State University senior guard
Ryan Bruggeman has been named to the Bevo Francis Award Top 50 Watch List, Small College Basketball announced on Friday.
The Clarence "Bevo" Francis Award is presented annually to the player who has had the finest overall season within Small College Basketball. The Top 50 list was compiled from men's basketball players in the country who compete in the affiliations of NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, NAIA Division I, NAIA Division II, USCAA and NCCAA.
Bruggeman, a 6-foot native of Pelican Rapids, Minn., is averaging 25.1 points, while dishing out 133 assists this season. He is shooting 52 percent (221 of 425) from the field and 89.6 percent (129 of 144) from the free throw line. He currently leads the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference in scoring and steals, while ranking fourth in assists and sixth in free throw percentage.
Bruggeman holds numerous program career records, including points, field goals made, free throws made, free throws attempted, free throw percentage, assists and steals.
This marks the fourth season of the Bevo Francis Award, as the award was previously given to Dominez Burnett of Davenport (Mich.) in 2016, Justin Pitts of Northwest Missouri State in 2017 and Emanuel Terry of Lincoln Memorial last season.
"This process is very challenging, as there are so many good players that are having excellent seasons," said SCB Founder John McCarthy. "It's really difficult to narrow this list to 50 players. As such, we continued to go back to our specific criteria for the Bevo Francis Award. We've considered individual achievements, season statistics, awards, milestones, and team achievement.
"As we move further into this process, personal character will become increasingly important," McCarthy said. "Bevo Francis was very focused on team success, so we emphasize a player's contributions to team success during this process. As such, while this is an individual award, team success is an important consideration. I sincerely congratulate every single member of this list. It's an incredible honor to be listed amount the nation's elite at the small college level. Importantly, I thank all of our committee members that have taken the time to provide a tremendous amount of information."
Members of the Bevo Francis Award committee include the following coaches: Tobin Anderson - St. Thomas Aquinas (N.Y.), Gerald Holmes - Bloomfield (N.J.), Gary Stewart - Stevenson (Md.), Arlen Galloway - Wentworth (Mass.), Chris Briggs - Georgetown (Ky.), Bill Dreikosen - Rocky Mountain (Mont.), Klint Pleasant - Rochester (Mich.), Ryan Kane - Ripon (Wisc.), Mark Berokoff – Hillsdale Baptist (Okla.), Mike Donnelly – Florida Southern, Rhett Soliday – Vanguard (Calif.), Sam Hargraves – Alma (Mich.) and Ryan Looney – Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.).
The committee chose this elite group from over 1,100 colleges and universities and took into consideration individual statistics, previous awards, milestones and team success.
The list will be narrowed down to 25 players in a Watch List published on March 15. The finalists will be announced in a highlight video that will be released on April 6.
The 2019 Bevo Francis Award winner will be announced on April 8. The award will be presented to the award winner on May 11 at the SCB National Awards Show in conjunction with the SCB Alumni Association's Celebration of the Game event at the Crowne Plaza in downtown Kansas City, Missouri.
Small College Basketball is very grateful to the University of Rio Grande and Sheward-Fulks Insurance for their sponsorship and support of the Bevo Francis award.
