Lincoln Memorial's McCauley Named to Bevo Francis Award Top 25 Watch List, Up for National Player of the Year

STORY COURTESY OF LINCOLN MEMORIAL ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – One of the most outstanding individual single-season performances of the 2019-20 college basketball year belongs to Lincoln Memorial University's own Courvoisier McCauley and Sunday morning the sophomore guard was named to the 2020 Bevo Francis Award Top 25 watch list as announced by Small College Basketball and the Nation Awards Committee.
 
McCauley becomes just the third Railsplitter to be selected as a top 25 watch list member for the annual Bevo Francis Award, joining Luquon Choice (2017) and Emanuel Terry (2018).
 
The Bevo Francis Award Top 25 watch list is comprised of the top players from NCAA Division II and Division III men's basketball, the NAIA, United State Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) and National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA). LMU All-American Terry won the national player of the year award in 2018 after compiling a remarkable 126-14 career record donning the Blue and Gray.
 
"On behalf of the National Awards Committee, I congratulate the 25 players that have made the Bevo Francis Watch List of 25 players," Small College Basketball founder John McCarthy said. "Clearly, this is a highly prestigious group of players who have helped lead their teams to great heights. It is important to note that this is an individual award, yet team success is an important criteria; as such, all of the players on this list have helped to lead their team to their respective national tournament and all of these teams have won more than 20 games, with more than half of them winning 25 games or more. These players are the elite of the elite, and I sincerely congratulate each and every one of them."
 
An integral part in the Railsplitters' unprecedented success in 2019-20, McCauley helped lead LMU to a South Atlantic Conference and program-record 32-straight victories, which led all levels of college basketball. Thanks to McCauley and his teammates' efforts, the Railsplitters were able to post the best record in both school and league history, finishing 32-1 (.970) after going a remarkable 25-0 against SAC opponents. LMU went unscathed in conference play for the third time in five seasons (22-0) and closed out its campaign an unblemished 17-0 at home and 20-0 in 2020.
 
The fifth Railsplitter to garner SAC Player of the Year accolades, McCauley was an All-SAC First Team selection and was nothing shy of spectacular in his second collegiate season. The 6-foot-5 swingman ended the year ranked 13th in the nation in made three pointers (103), 20th in made field goals (236), 22nd in points scored (661), 29th in three-point field goal percentage (43.6%), 38th in three pointers per game (3.1) and 50th in scoring (20.0 PPG). McCauley finished second in the league in scoring and averaged 6.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 49.7 percent (236-of-475) from the floor.
 
The Indianapolis (Manuel HS), native's 661 points were the ninth-most in a single season by a LMU player as McCauley's 103 threes were the fifth-most in program history. He connected on four or more treys on 12 different occasions and reached double-figure scoring in all but three games. McCauley notched 20 points or more 17 times and hit the 30-point mark in three outings, recording five double-doubles and scoring a career-high 44 points on Dec. 15 in a 97-77 home win over Lenoir-Rhyne. It marked the most in a single game by a Railsplitter during the school's NCAA era and tied for the seventh-most in any game in program history. Named SAC Player of the Week a conference-best three times, McCauley pulled down a career-high 18 rebounds on Feb. 29 against Anderson in LMU's 75-55 regular season finale.
 
In 62 career games, McCauley has scored an impressive 946 points. He is the lone representative of the 12-team SAC on the 25-man national player of the year watch list.
 
The Clarence "Bevo" Francis Award is presented annually to the player who has had the finest overall season within Small College Basketball. Considerations are based on season statistics and individual achievements, awards, personal character and team achievements. It is an incredibly prestigious award given to one player within Small College Basketball (non-Division I) per season.
 
The 25 players who appear on the watch list are a very elite group that have been chosen from approximately 1,100-1,200 colleges and university throughout the country.
 
2020 marks the fifth year of the Bevo Francis Award. Past winners include Dominez Burnett of Davenport University in 2016, Justin Pitts of Northwest Missouri State in 2017, LMU's own Emanuel Terry in 2018 and last year's winner, Aston Francis of Wheaton College.
 
On Saturday, April 4, the finalist of this year's award will be announced, followed by the Bevo Francis Award winner being crowned Monday, April 6.
 
To stay up to date on all things Small College Basketball and to learn more about Bevo Francis, head to SmallCollegeBasketball.com.