Borchert Selected To Bevo Francis Award Top 50 Watch List

UW-Oshkosh junior forward Levi Borchert is among 50 men's basketball players, including 12 from the NCAA Division III, who remain in contention for the 2022 Bevo Francis Award.

Sponsored by Small College Basketball, the Bevo Francis Award is presented annually to the player from NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, the United States Collegiate Athletic Association and the National Christian College Athletic Association who has had the finest overall season. Considerations revolve around season statistics, individual accomplishments, awards, personal character and team achievements.

The list of contenders for the 2022 Bevo Francis Award, which began with a 100-member watch list Jan. 15, will be trimmed to 25 players March 15 before the finalists are announced April 2. The award winner will be revealed April 4.

Borchert, the only Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference player still in the hunt for this year's Bevo Francis Award, leads nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh in scoring, rebounding, steals, double-doubles and field goal percentage.

Borchert, who was selected to the 2021-22 D3hoops.com Preseason All-America Third Team, is averaging 18.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game this season while totaling 11 double-doubles and recording shooting percentages of 63.3 (167-264) from the field and 56.8 (71-125) from the free throw line.

The Kimberly High School graduate ranks 13th in Division III this season in field goal percentage, 28th in double-doubles and 36th in rebounds per game. Borchert leads the WIAC in rebounds per game, double-doubles and minutes played (794) while ranking second in the league in field goal percentage and fifth in points per game.

Borchert has helped third-ranked UW-Oshkosh to a 19-3 record this season. He tallied a career-high 32 points with 15 rebounds during the Titans' 89-84 win over UW-River Falls on Jan. 22 and counted 18 points, a career-high tying 18 rebounds and three assists during UW-Oshkosh's 73-54 triumph over St. Norbert College on Dec. 21. 

The Kimberly High School graduate was named a 2020-21 D3hoops.com Third Team All-American and All-WIAC First Team selection after averaging 14.4 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game while shooting a league-leading 66.7 percent from the field to help lead the Titans to a 5-2 record during an abbreviated schedule due to the novel coronavirus pandemic that also canceled last year's Division III Championship.

Borchert, the 2019-20 WIAC Newcomer of the Year, has averaged 13.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists while shooting 64.3 percent from the floor and producing 19 double-doubles in 58 career games during his two-plus seasons at UW-Oshkosh.

The Titans' run of five straight trips to the Division III postseason is the longest active streak in the WIAC and the fourth longest in league history. UW-Oshkosh, the 2019 national champion and 2018 runner-up, reached the second round of the NCAA Championship in 2020.

Former Titans Ben Boots and Adam Fravert were named to the Bevo Francis Award Top 50 Watch List in 2019 and 2020, respectively.

This marks the sixth year in which the Bevo Francis Award will be presented.