BALDWIN CITY, Kan. – Northwest Missouri State University senior Justin Pitts has been named a finalist for the 2018 Bevo Francis Award, given to the nation’s top small-college basketball player.

Pitts put together one of the most historic careers in Northwest history. This year he was the MIAA Player of the Year and D2CCA Central Region Player of the Year. He was honored as a first team All-America performer by the DII Bulletin, the D2CCA and the NABC. He is the Northwest career leader in points (2,459), FG made (887), FG attempted (1,681) and assists (575) and holds the Northwest record with 10 made three pointers in a single game vs. NSU on 11/30/17.

The Clarence “Bevo” Francis Award is presented annually to the player who has had the finest overall season within Small College Basketball. Bevo Francis played at Rio Grande College (now the University of Rio Grande) in Ohio in 1952-53 and 1953-54. When he arrived on campus, the school had 38 male students enrolled in the school and was on the verge of bankruptcy, planning to close its doors at the end of the 1952-53 school year. In the season before Bevo arrived at Rio Grande, the Redmen (now the Red Storm) had gone 4-19.

During his two seasons at Rio Grande, Bevo became the most popular basketball player in the world, and ultimately helped to save the school from bankruptcy. During his first year, the Redmen went 39-0, and Bevo scored 1,954 points and averaged 50.1 points per game. Against Ashland College (KY), Francis scored 116 points, which included 55 points in the final 10 minutes of the game.

— Northwest Athletics —