GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Averaging over 16 points and nearly eight rebounds per game,
Trevor Baskin is in the middle of a remarkable season for the Colorado Mesa men's basketball team. Baskin received another significant accolade last week when he was included in the unveiling of Small College Basketball's Bevo Francis Award Top 50 Watchlist.
The Clarence "Bevo" Francis Award is presented annually to the player who has had the best overall season within Small College Basketball (all non-Division I hoops, comprising NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, NAIA and junior college). According to the awards committee, "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."
Small College Basketball released an initial watchlist of 100 players in consideration for the award on January 15, which included Baskin. The list is trimmed down from 100 to 50 players on February 15, 25 players on March 15 and finalists on April 15 before a winner is announced on April 18. Last year, RJ Sunihara of Division II national champions Nova Southeastern won the award, while RMAC Player of the Year Joel Scott from Black Hills State was one of the finalists.
This is Baskin's first time making the Top 50 Watchlist after he was only named to the Top 100 list during the 2022-23 season. Baskin remains the only RMAC player in contention for this year's award. As a program, this marks Colorado Mesa's second consecutive season with a player in the Bevo Francis Top 50, as former Maverick
Blaise Threatt made the top 50 cut a year ago.
Baskin is coming off arguably his best week of his entire 2023-24 season, having recently won the RMAC Defensive Player of the Week award after averaging 21 points, nine rebounds, 5.5 assists and four blocks per game in a pair of wins last weekend against Colorado School of Mines and MSU Denver. Baskin tied a school record with six blocks in a single game against the Roadrunners.
The redshirt junior currently ranks ninth in the RMAC in scoring (16.2 points per game), third in the conference in rebounding (7.9 boards per game) and tied for fourth in assists (3.8 per game). He is the only RMAC player to rank in the conference's top 10 in all three categories.
The Mavericks, who recently moved up three spots to No. 6 in the NABC Coaches national poll, are 21-3 overall and tied for first place in the RMAC standings with a 17-1 conference record. Colorado Mesa travels to New Mexico Highlands on Friday, CSU Pueblo on Saturday and Westminster the following Tuesday before returning home next Saturday, March 2, against Western Colorado for the final game of the regular season.
