SEARCY – Harding men's basketball teammates Blake McNair and Will Francis have played almost 80 games together, have won the Great American Conference Tournament together and have played in NCAA Tournament together.
On Thursday, the duo both claimed CoSIDA Academic All-District 7 honors as well. McNair and Francis are two of only five student-athletes from the Central Region to receive the honor. Both now move on to the CoSIDA Academic All-America ballot.
McNair, a graduate student from Harrison, Arkansas, is averaging 12.9 points and leads the GAC in both 3-point field-goal percentage (48.6 percent) and free-throw percentage (91.5 percent). He had a 3.46 GPA in his undergraduate studies and earned a degree in health and kinesiology. McNair is currently pursuing a master's degree in management and business ethics.
Francis is a junior health and kinesiology major from Searcy, Arkansas, and has a 3.67 GPA. He averages 13.3 points and leads the GAC with a 2.69 assist-to-turnover ratio.
District 7 is comprised of teams from the NCAA Division II Central Region, which includes the Great American Conference, the MIAA and the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
With McNair and Francis' awards, Harding has had eight CoSIDA Academic All-District recipients since 2000. The only other time the Bisons had two in one season came in 2003-04 when Jay Brogdon and Chad Ware both received the honor.
