Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
Jan. 15, 2019 - North Central College men's basketball student-athlete Connor Raridon has been named to the Top 100 Watch List for the Bevo Francis Award, which is presented annually to the player outside of NCAA Division I competition who has the finest overall individual season. Small College Basketball, which presents the award, released this season's first Watch List on Tuesday.
Small College Basketball is a national publication covering the sport at the NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, NAIA, USCAA and NCCAA levels, will be presenting the Bevo Francis Award for the fourth time this season. Its watch list was chosen from more than 1,100 collegiate institutions nationwide, taking into consideration individual statistics, previous awards, milestones and team success.
Raridon currently ranks first in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) and 24th among all NCAA Division III players in assists per game (5.50) while ranking fifth in the CCIW in points per game (17.3), rebounds per game (6.8) and free-throw percentage (.850). He owns North Central's records for assists in a single game (13, accomplished twice), season (187, set last season) and career (425).
On Dec. 15, Raridon became the 27th 1000-point scorer in the history of the Cardinals' program and currently ranks 19th all-time in points scored (1,123) while ranking sixth in free throws made (344), seventh in free throws attempted (435) and 15th in rebounds (518).
Of the 100 players on the Watch List, 23 compete for Division III institutions. Raridon is one of four CCIW representatives, joining Augustana College's Nolan Ebel, Illinois Wesleyan University's Brady Rose and Wheaton College's Aston Francis. The next Watch List, consisting of 50 players, will be published Feb. 15, with a 25-player Watch List to follow on Mar. 15. The finalists will be announced in a highlight video to be released Apr. 6. The winner will be announced Apr. 8, and will be formally presented with the award on May 11 at the National Awards Show in conjunction with the Small College Basketball Alumni Association's Celebration of the Game event at the Crowne Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri.
The award is named in honor of the late Clarence 'Bevo' Francis, who established new NCAA and NAIA records for points scored in a season and a single game for Rio Grande College (now the University of Rio Grande) in Ohio during the 1952-53 and 1953-54 campaigns.
The Cardinals (13-3, 5-2 CCIW) host Carthage College on Wednesday. Tipoff at Gregory Arena is set for 7:00 p.m.
