KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Carson-Newman junior forward Jack Browder has been named to the Bevo Francis Top 100 Watch List, the The National Awards Committee and Small College Basketball announced Wednesday evening.
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 prestgious award, as this award will only be given to one player within Small College Basketball per season.
Browder is the fourth Eagle to earn a spot on the watch list. Nick Brenegan was recognized with a spot last season, while Charles Clark was lauded in both his junior and senior seasons (2016-17 and 2017-18).
2025 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, while in 2024 Elijah Malone of Grace College received the honor. The award was not presented during the 2021 season.
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 5th, the finalists of this year's award will be announced, followed by the Bevo Francis Award winner being crowned on April 7th.
Browder is the second leading scorer in the league this season and the fourth-leading rebounder. He is averaging 20.8 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. Browder has been exceptionally efficient in doing that too. He is averaging 58.2 percent shooting from the field, 49.4 percent shooting from three and 82.1 percent from the line.
Jack Browder has been stellar offensively over Carson-Newman's last nine games. The junior forward is averaging 25.0 points per game while shooting 62.0 percent from the field, 56.0 (28-for-50) percent from three and 95.55 percent from the line. He has made 43 of his last 45 free thrws. He has scored 20 or more points in six of C-N's last nine games. He's also averaging eight rebounds per game in that stretch. Browder hadn't scored below 18 points since Nov. 30 prior to his 11-point, 10-rebound 17th career double-double against UVA Wise Wednesday night. He had a career-best 36 points and 16 rebounds in the Eagles loss at UVA Wise on Dec. 4.
Browder has earned three player of the week honors from the SAC this season, and was named National Player of the Week in December.
Browder and the rest of the Eagles will be in action Saturday at 4 p.m. against Wingate. The contest will feature the 10-year reunion for the 2015 SAC tournament championship team. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 3:45 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on Mix 105.5 (WSEV-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live. A video stream will be available at cneagles.com/FloMbb.
