Ft. Myers, Fla. – Northern Michigan's Dylan Kuehl has been named to the Small College Basketball and the National Awards Committee Trevor Hudgins Top 15 Watch List for the 2025–26 season. 

The award annually celebrates the senior whose four-year (or five-year) career has defined excellence across Small College Basketball. John McCarthy reflected on the significance of this year's Top 15 honorees: 

"Congratulations to the 15 players on the Trevor Hudgins Award Watch List," stated McCarthy. "Each of them have had tremendous collegiate careers and helped lead their respective teams to a great level of success. This is a very elite group of seniors, and they should be recognized and celebrated. Thank you to the Small College Basketball National Awards Committee for their insight and information in this selection process, which is incredibly difficult."

Among those recognized, Dylan Kuehl has delivered a senior season that mirrors the award's standard of excellence.

Kuehl has led the Wildcats to a 25-5 overall record and a GLIAC Regular Season Championship, the fourth conference championship in his career. He is averaging 21.3 points per game, putting him inside the nation's top-15 scorers. He is also shooting 56.7% from the field while averaging 6.3 rebounds per contest. Within the GLIAC schedule, his 23.8 points per game is first, 58.6 FG% is second, 6.4 rebounds per game is 10th, and 1.5 blocks per game ranks third, putting him as the frontrunner for conference Player of the Year.

For his career, Kuehl has transformed NMU into a nationally recognized basketball brand.  With him on the court, NMU holds a record of 93-34 (.732), and his 2,089 career points are third on the program's all-time list, just 21 back of second and 135 from first. 

The award is named in honor of Northwest Missouri State's Trevor Hudgins, who had a historic career with the Bearcats. He led the Bearcats to three consecutive NCAA Division II National Championships. During his career, Hudgins started in every game and never missed one. He also never lost an NCAA Tournament game, leading the Bearcats to a remarkable 17-0 record in the NCAA Division II National Tournament. Hudgins was named the NCAA Division II Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons in 2021 and 2022. He holds both the NWMSU scoring and assists records and finished his career with 2,829 points, which ranks first all-time in the 110 year history of the MIAA.

The 2026 season marks the third time that the Trevor Hudgins Award will be awarded. In 2024, KJ Jones of Emannuel College was named the inaugural winner. Kaleb Lowery of The Master's received the award in 2025. The video of the finalists will be released on Saturday, April 4th, and the award winner will be announced through a video presentation on Monday, April 6th, at halftime of the NCAA Division I National Championship Game.

Considerations for the Trevor Hudgins Award are overall career statistics and achievements, team achievements, awards, and personal character. The player must have played his entire career at the small college level. This is the highest award given to a four-year (or five-year) player within Small College Basketball. The overall intent of the Trevor Hudgins Award is two-fold:  1) To keep the collegiate legacy of Trevor Hudgins alive and continue to tell his story to the next generation, and 2) To provide a national platform to honor outstanding players – and ultimately one player – within small college basketball on an annual basis. The Trevor Hudgins Award is sponsored by Ken & Jeanette Scribner and Northwest Missouri State University.

The Small College Basketball National Awards Committee consists of the following coaches: Gary Stewart - Stevenson (Md.), Chris Briggs - Georgetown (Ky.), Mike Donnelly – Florida Southern, Richard Westerlund – Great Lakes Christian, Mark Vanderslice – USC – Aiken, Matt O'Brien – Southwestern (KS), Chris Wright – Langston (OK), Justin Leslie – Midwestern State, Raul Placeres – Maryville College (TN), Chris Martin – Loras (IA), John Lamanna – Whitman (WA), Brian Miller – MSOE, Justin Downer – Point Loma Nazarene, Matt Capell – STAC, Scott Moore – Grace, Keven Bradley – Hillsdale, Mark Rutledge – Southern Arkansas, Chase Tiechmann – Georgia Gwinnett, Mick Hedgepeth – Alabama Huntsville. 

For more information on the Trevor Hudgins Award or Small College Basketball, please head to smallcollegebasketball.com. 

2025-26 Trevor Hudgins Award Watch List

Jack Browder	6'4"	Carson-Newman
Bradley Bunch	6'6"	Pikeville
Carl Cleveland	6'6"	Young Harris
Mason Dopirak	6'2"	MSOE
Justin Hemphill	6'6"	Daemen
Nick Koch	6'1"	College of New Jersey
Dylan Kuehl	6'6"	Northern Michigan
Chase Morgan	6'6"	Maryville (TN)
Ben Pearce	6'1"	Emory
Shane Regan	6'4"	Chicago
Zevi Samet	6'2"	Yeshiva
Marcus Tomashek	6'6"	Michigan Tech
Henry Vetter	6'5"	Trinity (CT)
A.J. White	5'10"	North Georgia
Maceo Williams	6'7"	Ashland