Oklahoma Baptist basketball star Burke Putnam on Bevo Francis Watch List
Oklahoma Baptist senior Burke Putnam was named to the Bevo Francis Top-100 2022 Watch List recently announced by Small College Basketball and the National Awards Committee.
The Top 100 to Watch list includes the best players from NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, NAIA Division I, NAIA Division II, USCAA, and NCCAA.
The Clarence "Bevo" Francis Award is presented annually to the player who has had the finest overall season within Small College Basketball.
Considerations will be season statistics, 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.
Putnam has taken the league by storm in his debut season in the Great American Conference, leading the Bison to a 7-2 conference start. He averages a GAC-best 21.5 PPG, which ranks 23rd in the nation, and is shooting 49.2% from the floor. He has also made good on 66-of-84 (78.6%) attempts from the charity stripe.
The guard leads OBU in assists (52), steals (21), and ranks second in rebounds (94). Putnam scored a season-high 33 points against Wayne State (NE) in the season opener, shooting at a 60-percent shooting clip.
He totals two double-doubles and has scored 20 or more points nine times this year. With 323 total points recorded this season, Putnam has the opportunity to reach 500 career points as a Bison.
Putnam reached 1,664 career points last week, accumulating much of the sum at his previous stops, Valdosta State and Connors State College. He racked up 679 points with the Blazers and totaled 662 at CSC before making his mark on Bison Hill.
2022 marks the sixth year for the Bevo Francis Prize, after the prize was not awarded in 2021. Past recipients include Dominez Burnett of Davenport University in 2016, Justin Pitts of Northwest Missouri State University in 2017, Emanuel Terry from Lincoln Memorial University in 2018, Aston Francis from Wheaton College in 2019 and Kyle Mangas from Indiana Wesleyan University in 2020.
The Watch List will be dwindled down as follows:
February 15, 2022: Top 50
March 15, 2022: Top 25
April 2, 2022: Finalists
April 4, 2022: announcement of the winner of the Bevo Francis Prize 2022
Putnam was named the Great American Conference Player of the Week for the fourth time this season on Tuesday, extending his single-season Bison hoops record to four for the recognition.
Putnam led OBU to a 2-1 record last week, besting Ouachita Baptist and Northwestern. He averaged 21.0 PPG at a 56.8 percent shooting clip and sank 11-of-15 from the free-throw line.
Against Ouachita, he lit up Vining Arena, scoring 19 points and only missed two shots. Putnam went 9-of-11 (81.8%) from the floor, a season-high, and knocked down his only 3-point attempt. He added two steals, four assists, and one block.
On Thursday, Jan. 13 versus the Crimson Storm, Putnam recorded 19 points on 9-of-14 shooting and dished out four assists. On Saturday, his best game came against the Rangers, where he charted 25 points, including 10 made free-throws, a season-best at the charity stripe. Furthermore, he collected five rebounds, five assists and two steals.
Putnam has garnered the award more times than any other male basketball athlete in the GAC this season.
This article originally appeared on The Shawnee News-Star: Oklahoma Baptist's Burke Putnam on Bevo Francis Watch List
