FT. MYERS, Fla. – UIndy men's basketball student-athlete Jesse Bingham was named a top-100 finalist for the 2023 Bevo Francis Award, announced by Small College Basketball earlier this weekend. The Indianapolis native is the first Greyhound since Jimmy King in 2020 to be honored on the top-100 watch list.
 
Per the NCAA: "The award was created in 2015 and is named after Clarence "Bevo" Francis. Francis played two seasons at what is now the University of Rio Grande. In his first season, he led the team to a 39-0 record averaging 50.1 points per game, highlighted by a 116-point performance against Ashland College in Kentucky.
 
DII men's basketball's Trevor Hudgins was the previous winner. Hudgins capped his career last season with his third-straight national championship, third MIAA player of the year award, and second NABC DII player of the year award as one of the leaders of the Northwest Missouri State dynasty. He was the second Bearcat to win the award since 2017, with Justin Pitts taking the honors that season."
 
The list features student-athletes from NCAA Division II, Division II, NAIA, USCAA, and NCCAA. Forty-two of the honorees, including Bingham, are members of NCAA DII institutions.
 
"Jesse is more than deserving of this recognition," said head coach Paul Corsaro. "Everything Jesse gets is earned. Nobody works harder or has better intentions. I'm glad to see someone who does everything the right way get rewarded for being about the right stuff."
 
Bingham became the 44th Greyhound in program history to reach 1,000 career points, dropping 14 against Maryville just last night. This season, the redshirt-sophomore is averaging 16.0 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.