BILLINGS — Four players competing in Montana were named Thursday to the Bevo Francis Top 100 Watch List.
The Clarence "Bevo" Francis Award is presented annually to the top player in small-college basketball (NCAA Division II, Division III, NAIA, USCAA and NCCAA).
Montana State Billings' Mason Landdeck, Montana Tech's Hayden Diekhans, Montana Western's Kyle Gruhler and Rocky Mountain College's Omari Nesbit were named to the list.
Landdeck ranks third in the D-II Great Northwest Athletic Conference in scoring at 20.9 points per game. He also averages 3.4 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game. He has recorded eight games with 20 or more points and two performances of 30 or more points this season, including a career-high 32-point outing against Seattle Pacific on Dec. 6.
Fort Benton's Diekhans, the reigning Frontier Conference MVP and defensive player of the year, averages 14.9 points and 7.8 rebounds this season for Montana Tech while shooting 55% from the floor. The No. 15-ranked Orediggers are shooting for their fourth straight Frontier Conference title and fifth straight league tournament crown.
Gruhler leads the Frontier in scoring at 23.1 points per game, and his 68 made 3-pointers are also No. 1 in the conference. He is shooting 54.5% from the floor, 54.5% from 3 and 84.3% from the foul line.
Nesbit is currently averaging 17.2 points per game this season for Rocky. He's helped the Battlin' Bears to a 14-3 overall record under first-year coach Danny Neville and a 9-2 mark in Frontier play, one game back of league-leading Carroll.
Former Rocky player Jaylon Lee (Arizona Christian) and ex-Montana Grizzlies player Jaxon Nap (Nova Southeastern) are also named to the list.
