SCHMIDT MAKES HIS FIRST BEVO FRANCIS AWARD TOP 25 WATCH LIST

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – For the first time in his career, Olivet Nazarene University men's basketball senior guard Tyler Schmidt advanced to the Bevo Francis Award Top 25 Watch List. Small College Basketball announced their narrowed list in a release Friday morning.

Schmidt made the Top 50 Watch List for the prestigious award last year during the 2022-23 season, but now becomes the third Tiger in program history to make the Top 25 Watch List for the Bevo Francis Award. Nic Reed earned the honor in 2020 and Alex Gross did as well in 2022. Both Reed and Gross were named finalists in their respective seasons.

Schmidt has asserted himself as one of the NAIA's best players during the course of his standout senior season. He retained his throne atop the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) when he earned his second consecutive CCAC Player of the Year award after finishing among the top ten players in the league in five separate categories highlighted by his conference-leading 23.9 scoring average, which also ranks sixth-best in the nation.

Schmidt was a three-time conference player of the week and also captured the award at the NAIA national level once. He also became just the sixth player in program history to score 2,000 career points when he hit the milestone in a win over St. Francis (Ill.) on Feb. 3. He needed just 102 games to hit the mark and currently sits at 2,243 career points, good for fourth on the program's all-time scoring list.

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.

The finalists for the award will be determined on Friday, April 5 and the winner will be announced on Monday, April 8.

Click HERE to learn more about the award and to find the full list.

--ONU—

*Contact: Evan Wild, Sports Information Director, ewwild@olivet.edu