Five district basketball players named to Bevo Francis award watch list

They would make a nice starting five.

Five district players made the Clarence “Bevo” Francis watch list for the award that recognizes the top small-college basketball player in the country.

Bryce Butler of West Liberty, John Paul Kromka of Pitt-Johnstown, Shawndale Jones and Dave Morris of IUP and Jo Valrie of Point Park are among 100 players on the list from NCAA Division II and III, as well as NAIA, USCAA and NCCAA programs.

Butler, a 6-foot-5 guard and returning All-American out of Latrobe, is third in Division II in scoring at 23.7 points per game. He is shooting 61.4% from the field and also averages seven rebounds for the No. 8-ranked Hilltoppers.

He was the NCAA Division 2 Atlantic Region and Mountain East Conference player of the year last season.

The 6-foot-7 Kromka, who also was an All-American last year and has won PSAC West Defensive Player of the Year three times, leads UPJ in scoring (15.4 ppg), field goal percentage (69), rebounds (6.5), and blocks (39).

Kromka, a senior out of Gateway, is the Mountain Cats’ all-time leader with 281 blocks.

Jones, a 6-3 guard who is a grad student, leads top-ranked and unbeaten IUP (15-0) with a 19.6-point average, and also pulls down 4.8 rebounds.

He played at The Kiski School in Saltsburg.

Morris, a redshirt senior guard out of Erie’s Strong Vincent, averages 17.6 points and 4.2 rebounds and has a team-best 44 3-pointers.

Valrie is a 6-5 sophomore forward who transferred to Point Park from National Park (Ark.). The Houston, Texas, product is leading the Pioneers at 19.1 points and 10.5 rebounds per game

This is the seventh year for the Bevo Francis award. The top 50 players will be announced Feb. 15 before the committee cuts the field to 25 on March 15.

On April 1, the finalists will be unveiled, and the winner will be announced April 3.

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Here is the full watch list:

Ethan Anderson Sr. Wisconsin-Lacrosse

Kaden Anderson Sr. Point Loma Nazarene

Shaw Anderson Jr. Seattle Pacific

Raheem Anthony Sr. St. Mary’s (Minn.)

Dejon Barney Jr. IU South Bend

Trevor Baskin So. CO Mesa

Diego Bernard Sr. NW MO State

Sam Beskind Sr. CO School of Mines

Jesse Bingham So. Indianapolis

Max Bjorklund Sr. Northern Michigan

Drew Blair Sr. MN-Duluth Octavio

Brito So. Keene State

Levi Borchert Jr. UW-Oshkosh

Marcus Boykin So. Barton

Jalen Brooks Sr. LSU-Shreveport

Anthony Brown Sr. Mid-America Nazarene

Julius Brown Sr. West Texas A&M

Fillip Bulatovic Sr. Carthage

Bryce Butler Jr. West Liberty

Rich Byhre Sr. Rockhurst

DJ Campbell Jr. Stockton

Jamal Cannady So. Bryn Athyn

Dan Carr Sr. Augustana (Ill.)

Frank Champion So. North Georgia

Taeshon Cherry Sr. Marian (Ind.)

Luke Chicone So. John Carroll

Cevin Clark Jr. Southwestern (Kan.)

Daniel Cook Sr. St. John Fisher

Tyshaun Crawford Sr. Augusta

Tyson Cruickshank Sr. Wheaton (Ill.)

Antwaan Cushingberry Sr. St. Francis (Ind.)

Frankie Davidson Jr. Grace (Ind.)

Vinny DeAngelo Jr. Swarthmore

Josiah De’laCerda Sr. Ottawa (Ariz.)

Omari DeVeaux So. Virginia Wesleyan

Ely Doble Jr. Morningside

Jacob Drees Sr. Cedarville

Nick Fort Sr. Asbury

Zach Goodline Sr. Huntington

Austin Grunder Sr. Cortland

Tristan Harper Sr. Langston

Jesse Hafemeister Jr. Catholic

Matt Helwig Sr. North Central (Ill.)

Jake Hilmer Sr. Upper Iowa

CJ Hines So. Faulkner

Jahn Hines Jr. Christopher Newport

Jarred Houston Sr. Emerson

Jason Hubbard Sr. Taylor

Trent Hudgens So. Arizona Christian

Jeff Hunter Sr. Keene State

Josiah Johnson Sr. Mary Hardin Baylor

Chaney Johnson So. Alabama-Huntsville

Reid Jolly Jr. Thomas More

KJ Jones Emmanuel (Ga.)

Shawndale Jones Sr. IUP

Jaeden King Sr. St. Xavier

Brandon Knapper Sr. Cal State San Bernardino

Akuel Kot Jr. Fort Lewis

John Paul Kromka Sr. Pitt-Johnstown

Zach Laput Jr. Bentley

Peter Lash So. Nebraska Wesleyan

Jaden Lietzke Jr. Oklahoma Wesleyan

Owen Long Jr. Emporia State

Drew Lutz Sr. Bethel (Ind.)

Rowan Mackenzie Jr. Lubbock Christian

Miles Mallory Jr. Randolph-Macon

Sam Masten Sr. Northern State

Seth Maxwell Sr. Indiana Wesleyan

Lakeem McAliley So. East Stroudsburg

Riley Minix Sr. Southeastern (Fla.)

Cody Mitchell Sr. Illinois Wesleyan

Jacksen Moni So. Northern State

Brendan Mora Sr. Pomona-Pitzer

Dave Morris Sr. IUP

Robert Osborne Sr. Virginia Union

Christian Parker Jr. Mount Union

Tylandrius Parks Sr. Union (Tenn.)

Logan Pearson Jr. Wisconsin-Platteville

Carlos Pepin Sr. East Stroudsburg

Josh Pritchett Sr. Evangel

Chase Rankin Sr. Lincoln Memorial

Sesan Russell Sr. Florida Tech

Isaiah Sanders Sr. Fairmont State

Tyler Schmidt Jr. Olivet Nazarene

Joel Scott Sr. Black Hills State

Matt Simpson Sr. Florida College

Alex Sobel Sr. Middlebury

Bennett Stirtz Fr. NW MO State

RJ Sunahara Jr. Nova Southeastern

Josh Talbert Sr. Randolph-Macon

Adam Thistlewood Sr. CO School of Mines

Ryan Thissen Jr. St. John’s (Minn.)

Blaise Threatt So. CO Mesa

Markelle Turner Jr. Union (Ky.)

Jo Valrie So. Point Park

Mason Walters Sr. Jamestown

Jaden Wells So. Central Oklahoma

Malik Willingham Jr. Minnesota State

Drew Wyman So. College of Idaho

Will Yoakum Sr. Nova Southeastern