Wheaton, Ill. – Wheaton College junior Soren Richardson has been selected as one of 11 male finalists for the 2026 Jostens Trophy. The Jostens Trophy is a national award created by the Rotary Club of Salem, Virginia to honor the most outstanding men's and women's NCAA Division III basketball players of the year. The award takes into account three vital parts: basketball ability, academic prowess, and community service.

Richardson is a Christian Formation & Ministry major at Wheaton. The junior holds a 3.72 cumulative GPA.

Richardson earned his second-consecutive First Team All-CCIW award. He averaged 23.0 points per game in Wheaton's 16 conference games to repeat at the league's scoring leader. Richardson was named the CCIW Player of the Week award three times this season: Dec. 8, Jan. 12 and Jan. 26, and has received the award five times in his career.

Overall this season, Richardson average 22.4 points per game as he shot 48.4% (208-430) from the field, including 36.4% (55-151) behind the three-point arc. He also contributed 4.2 rebounds per game, 2.8 assists per game and a team-high 1.5 steals per game this year. Richardson scored his season high of 36 points in road matchups at Elmhurst and North Park, and he had a season-high six assists in the road game at North Park. The junior scored in double digits for 25 of Wheaton's 26 games this year.

Richardson has 1,457 career points at Wheaton, a mark that ranks 26^th in program history. His 165 career three-pointers ranks 12^th in Wheaton's record books. He also has 516 field goals, 160 assists and 100 steals across his three seasons.

Richardson's selection marks the 14th time in the 28-year history of the award that a Wheaton player has been tabbed as a finalist. Joel Kolmodin was a Jostens Trophy finalist in 2003 and 2004; Jon Nielson was a finalist for the award in 2005; Kent Raymond made the final-10 in 2008 and 2009; Ben Panner was a finalist for the award in 2010; Tim McCrary was a top-10 selection in 2012; Tyler Peters made the list in 2014; Brayden Teuscher was a finalist in 2015; Aston Francis was a finalist in 2018 and 2019; Nyameye Adom was a finalist in 2022; and Tyson Cruickshank in 2023.

In 2019, Francis was the first Wheaton student-athlete to win the prestigious award. Cruickshank became Wheaton's second Jostens Trophy recipient in 2023 as Wheaton joined Williams and Hamilton as the only schools with two winners of the men's Jostens Trophy.  No school has had more finalists than Wheaton since the award began in 1998.

2026 JOSTENS TROPHY MEN'S FINALISTS
Chris Bryant, Hardin-Simmons University
Brady Burman, Sarah Lawrence College
Mason Dopirak, Milwaukee School of Engineering
Mason Funk, Illinois Wesleyan University
Sam Grieger, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
Scott Gyimesi, Tufts University
Chase Morgan, Maryville College (Tenn.)
Kevin Nowoswiat, Franklin & Marshall College
Ben Pearce, Emory University
Jack Plesser, Union College
Soren Richardson, Wheaton College (Ill.)