Upper Iowa men's basketball senior Jake Hilmer was named to the Bevo Francis Top 50 Watch List, making the cut from the original Top 100 that was announced on January 15^th. The script will shrink to the Top 25 players on March 15^th. 
 
This is the furthest that Hilmer has advanced in the Bevo Francis Watch List, as he wasone of the Top 100 names during last season, but did not make the next cut to the Top 50. The Walker, Iowa native is putting up 23.5 points per game (5^th NCAA/ 1^st GLVC), 4.5 assists (5^th GLVC), 2.0 steals (1^st GLVC) and 2.4 rebounds. He has received GLVC Player of the Week twice and D2CIDA National Player of the Week once. 
 
The Peacocks are second in the conference standings with a 9-5 mark and hold an overall record of 14-8. They average 87.3 points per contest, first in the GLVC and 16^th in the NCAA. UIU is first in the league in turnovers after committing only 7.8 per game (their opponents average 12.7), and assist/turnover ratio as they dish out 13.2 assists (1.69 ratio). 
 
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 prestigious award, as this award will only be given to one player within Small College Basketball per season.
 
2024 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 of the Bevo Francis Award. The award was not presented during the 2021 season. John McCarthy added this about the Bevo Francis Award:
 
Members of the National Awards Committee include the following coaches: Gary Stewart - Stevenson (MD), Chris Briggs - Georgetown College (KY), Bill Dreikosen - Rocky Mountain (MT), Mark Berokoff - Oklahoma City, Mike Donnelly - Florida Southern, Sam Hargraves - Olivet, Richard Westerlund - Great Lakes Christian, Chase Teichmann - Florida College, Aaron Siebenthall - Ottawa (KS), Mark Vanderslice - USC - Aiken, Matt O'Brien - Southwestern (KS), Chris Wright - Langston (OK), Ben Thompson - Emory & Henry, Justin Leslie - Midwestern State, Raul Placeres - Maryville College (TN), Chris Martin - Loras (IA), John Lamanna - Whitman (WA), Brian Miller - MSOE, Justin Downer - Point Loma Nazarene. 
 
See the full list of the Top 50 with the link attached to this story.