SPOTLIGHT: Brandone Francis
October 15, 2018 | Men's Basketball
Brandone Francis was told to get his stuff together and get out. He wasn't kicked off the team, but he wouldn't be living with his Texas Tech teammates anymore. Two years had passed since Francis was one of the top recruits in the nation and his opportunity at his first school, the University of Florida, was already over. He found himself in his first year in Lubbock, practicing with the team, but sitting out the 2016-17 basketball season due to NCAA transfer rules and being mentally disconnected from everything around him.
"I came here to Tech and was kind of mad at the world," Francis admitted.
"He was inconsistent on the court, in the classroom and pretty much everywhere in his life," Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard said. "He was a guy that was doing a lot of soul-searching. He really was down to his last strike in our program and almost off the team. We decided to move him into the dorms from off-campus living with the rest of the team. We put a very strict discipline and academic policy in front of him. It was his only option to stay with us. Most players walk in those situations. They don't even try. Brandone agreed to it all."
The Brandone Francis you're about to see on the court in his senior season is a combination of a lot of factors. It's his humble upbringing. It's high school stardom. It's moving to a different country as a kid to work towards a better future for his entire family. It's the positives of playing at Florida, and it's the negatives of expectations not working out and feeling left behind during a coaching change. His journey brought him to Texas Tech and presented him with an opportunity that he almost lost before ever stepping on the court in a game for the Red Raiders because he was dwelling on the past. It all plays into who he is and who he wants to become.
"Coming out of high school I had a lot of expectations for myself," Francis said. "I had this path being a top-30 recruit and all that stuff. I had big dreams. Unfortunately, things didn't go the way I wanted them to, but I wouldn't change it for anything in the world. Coming here to Tech changed my life. I've met great people with Coach Beard and his staff just giving me another chance to be a better person and a better player. Just to grow. I was immature and didn't understand a lot of things. I've gained a better perspective for life and basketball here."
Francis has lived a basketball life that would make most kids with those aspirations jealous, starting by prepping at national power Arlington Country Day School and then signing to play at Florida for coach Billy Donovan. Francis had a movie-script ending to his prep career at Arlington Country Day by hitting a state championship-winning shot and would spend two years with the Gators. He had some moments at Florida, scoring nine points against West Virginia by hitting three 3-pointers in non-conference play and then recording seven points at Kentucky and Vanderbilt as a redshirt freshman in the Southeastern Conference before transferring to Texas Tech. There's no doubt he's had incredible basketball experiences that have taken him across the country and put him on center stage, but his life wasn't always spent in big arenas, playing on national television, staying in nice hotels or with an equipment manager and sports nutritionist on the team staff.
"Life was pretty hard growing up in the Dominican Republic," Francis said. "My family is poor. We didn't always have shoes and it was a struggle where I missed a few years of school. It was hard. When I got the news that I could come to the States to play basketball and continue my education it was real exciting for me and my family because they knew I was headed for great things in life."
Francis is from La Romana, Dominican Republic, a town along the Caribbean coast with a metro population roughly the same as Lubbock, Texas and with beautiful areas where tourist enjoy visiting. While the Dominican Republic may be known in the sports world for producing professional baseball players like Adrian Beltre, Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz and many more, it is also a place that has its financial challenges. When the opportunity at Country Day presented itself, Francis and his family were excited and knew he had to go because of the opportunity, but there was also fear.
"For me as his mom, it was hard to see him go to the United States," Kenia Ramirez said. "Being so young, without speaking English and having no one he knew close, I was afraid that he would be alone. But my son is a fighter and he was so strong. I am so proud. Since Brandone was four, he started to play basketball in the house. It's like it was in his blood. He has always had an incredible passion for that sport. I intended for him to play baseball, the most popular sport in DR, but he always knew what he wanted to be."
Francis finds strength in his mom and has permanently honored her with a tattoo of her on his left forearm. She is always on his mind despite being away from home for so long as he remembers the sacrifices she made for him when he was young and the support she still provides him every day. Â
"I keep it right here," Francis says as he looks down at the tattoo. "I look at my arm every day and do it for her. She works extremely hard from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. everyday. That's all the motivation I need. I have no excuses. I left home seven years ago and have missed a lot of birthdays and Christmases. I've missed a lot of quality time with my little brother who is now 10-years-old. They are my motivation to work hard and create a better future for my entire family."
Francis sat out the entire 2016-17 season and lived in the dorm by himself away from the team. He thought about quitting, but he also thought about the possibilities if he stayed the course. Did he know that one year later he'd be celebrating a Sweet 16 victory over No. 11 Purdue? Probably not. But he never stopped believing in himself, the coaching staff or the team that was challenging him to become a better person and teammate. Francis stayed with the team and would play a pivotal role in last year's success. He'd score a career-high 17 points in a 72-71 win over No. 2-ranked West Virginia and followed it with 13 more four days later at Texas. Francis finished his redshirt junior season averaging 5.1 points and 1.9 rebounds per game, but more importantly he had found his place in the program.
"He has become a better teammate and player because he is more focused," Beard said. "He won several games for us last year with his production in games which people saw but also in practice where he worked hard every day. The expectations for Brandone this season are at an all-time high for us."
Francis is one of four seniors on this year's team, joining Tariq Owens, Matt Mooney and Norense Odiase who will all be looked at to lead. They each bring their own skillset and will be asked to contribute in different ways in their final year of college basketball.
"I respect Brandone's journey from the DR to the States," Odiase said. "He's a kid following his dreams and is taking the necessary steps to do so for himself and his family."
"I've only been here for a short amount of time, but Brandone has been a great teammate since the first day," Mooney added. "He is one of the emotional leaders on our team. He's battled a lot of adversity and has had a long journey, but I know he's poised to have a big senior year."
The loss of seniors Keenan Evans, Justin Gray, Tommy Hamilton IV, Zach Smith and Niem Stevenson from last year's 27-10 team leaves the Red Raiders needing to fill areas of the stat sheets and leadership roles. In his fifth season of college basketball, Francis is still working every day to prove that he can be relied on to help the team achieve its goals. He hit 33 3-pointers last season at a 38.4 percentage and provided sparks throughout the year. Now, with more experience, maturity and focus than he's ever had coming into a season he's ready to be more of a constant and reliable player.
"My expectation for this year is to win," Francis said. "We had a great year (last season) and the only focus now is to win. I just want to bring it every night and become more consistent. I want to guard the best player on the other team and be able to shoot well from the free-throw line and on 3s. I learned a lot from the seniors last year. The biggest thing I learned was to lead by example. I transformed my body and make sure to go hard at practice. I want to be one of the first guys on every sprint. It's not about me, it's all about the team."
Not very many people thought Francis would make it to his senior season or hear him talk about embracing the unselfish role. Playing for a program of truth-tellers, Francis would admit that there were times he thought he wasn't going to make it. His coaches thought the same. That's the truth. It's what makes a senior year special when you think about how many players don't make it to that final season of college basketball.Â
"Coaches always want to reach every player, but unfortunately that's not reality," Beard said. "It's the player that has to take the steps. I'm really proud of him but he'll be the first to tell you that it's a daily process. He knows he has to stay focused and commit himself like he's never done before to have a great senior season and reach his goals. He's come a long way from the struggles he had growing up in the Dominican Republic, a coaching change at his first school, coming here and not everything happening for him as easily as he might have expected. You can't help but pull for a guy like that."
"I came here to Tech and was kind of mad at the world," Francis admitted.
"He was inconsistent on the court, in the classroom and pretty much everywhere in his life," Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard said. "He was a guy that was doing a lot of soul-searching. He really was down to his last strike in our program and almost off the team. We decided to move him into the dorms from off-campus living with the rest of the team. We put a very strict discipline and academic policy in front of him. It was his only option to stay with us. Most players walk in those situations. They don't even try. Brandone agreed to it all."
The Brandone Francis you're about to see on the court in his senior season is a combination of a lot of factors. It's his humble upbringing. It's high school stardom. It's moving to a different country as a kid to work towards a better future for his entire family. It's the positives of playing at Florida, and it's the negatives of expectations not working out and feeling left behind during a coaching change. His journey brought him to Texas Tech and presented him with an opportunity that he almost lost before ever stepping on the court in a game for the Red Raiders because he was dwelling on the past. It all plays into who he is and who he wants to become.
"Coming out of high school I had a lot of expectations for myself," Francis said. "I had this path being a top-30 recruit and all that stuff. I had big dreams. Unfortunately, things didn't go the way I wanted them to, but I wouldn't change it for anything in the world. Coming here to Tech changed my life. I've met great people with Coach Beard and his staff just giving me another chance to be a better person and a better player. Just to grow. I was immature and didn't understand a lot of things. I've gained a better perspective for life and basketball here."
Francis has lived a basketball life that would make most kids with those aspirations jealous, starting by prepping at national power Arlington Country Day School and then signing to play at Florida for coach Billy Donovan. Francis had a movie-script ending to his prep career at Arlington Country Day by hitting a state championship-winning shot and would spend two years with the Gators. He had some moments at Florida, scoring nine points against West Virginia by hitting three 3-pointers in non-conference play and then recording seven points at Kentucky and Vanderbilt as a redshirt freshman in the Southeastern Conference before transferring to Texas Tech. There's no doubt he's had incredible basketball experiences that have taken him across the country and put him on center stage, but his life wasn't always spent in big arenas, playing on national television, staying in nice hotels or with an equipment manager and sports nutritionist on the team staff.
"Life was pretty hard growing up in the Dominican Republic," Francis said. "My family is poor. We didn't always have shoes and it was a struggle where I missed a few years of school. It was hard. When I got the news that I could come to the States to play basketball and continue my education it was real exciting for me and my family because they knew I was headed for great things in life."
Francis is from La Romana, Dominican Republic, a town along the Caribbean coast with a metro population roughly the same as Lubbock, Texas and with beautiful areas where tourist enjoy visiting. While the Dominican Republic may be known in the sports world for producing professional baseball players like Adrian Beltre, Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz and many more, it is also a place that has its financial challenges. When the opportunity at Country Day presented itself, Francis and his family were excited and knew he had to go because of the opportunity, but there was also fear.
"For me as his mom, it was hard to see him go to the United States," Kenia Ramirez said. "Being so young, without speaking English and having no one he knew close, I was afraid that he would be alone. But my son is a fighter and he was so strong. I am so proud. Since Brandone was four, he started to play basketball in the house. It's like it was in his blood. He has always had an incredible passion for that sport. I intended for him to play baseball, the most popular sport in DR, but he always knew what he wanted to be."
Francis finds strength in his mom and has permanently honored her with a tattoo of her on his left forearm. She is always on his mind despite being away from home for so long as he remembers the sacrifices she made for him when he was young and the support she still provides him every day. Â
"I keep it right here," Francis says as he looks down at the tattoo. "I look at my arm every day and do it for her. She works extremely hard from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. everyday. That's all the motivation I need. I have no excuses. I left home seven years ago and have missed a lot of birthdays and Christmases. I've missed a lot of quality time with my little brother who is now 10-years-old. They are my motivation to work hard and create a better future for my entire family."
Francis sat out the entire 2016-17 season and lived in the dorm by himself away from the team. He thought about quitting, but he also thought about the possibilities if he stayed the course. Did he know that one year later he'd be celebrating a Sweet 16 victory over No. 11 Purdue? Probably not. But he never stopped believing in himself, the coaching staff or the team that was challenging him to become a better person and teammate. Francis stayed with the team and would play a pivotal role in last year's success. He'd score a career-high 17 points in a 72-71 win over No. 2-ranked West Virginia and followed it with 13 more four days later at Texas. Francis finished his redshirt junior season averaging 5.1 points and 1.9 rebounds per game, but more importantly he had found his place in the program.
"He has become a better teammate and player because he is more focused," Beard said. "He won several games for us last year with his production in games which people saw but also in practice where he worked hard every day. The expectations for Brandone this season are at an all-time high for us."
Francis is one of four seniors on this year's team, joining Tariq Owens, Matt Mooney and Norense Odiase who will all be looked at to lead. They each bring their own skillset and will be asked to contribute in different ways in their final year of college basketball.
"I respect Brandone's journey from the DR to the States," Odiase said. "He's a kid following his dreams and is taking the necessary steps to do so for himself and his family."
"I've only been here for a short amount of time, but Brandone has been a great teammate since the first day," Mooney added. "He is one of the emotional leaders on our team. He's battled a lot of adversity and has had a long journey, but I know he's poised to have a big senior year."
The loss of seniors Keenan Evans, Justin Gray, Tommy Hamilton IV, Zach Smith and Niem Stevenson from last year's 27-10 team leaves the Red Raiders needing to fill areas of the stat sheets and leadership roles. In his fifth season of college basketball, Francis is still working every day to prove that he can be relied on to help the team achieve its goals. He hit 33 3-pointers last season at a 38.4 percentage and provided sparks throughout the year. Now, with more experience, maturity and focus than he's ever had coming into a season he's ready to be more of a constant and reliable player.
"My expectation for this year is to win," Francis said. "We had a great year (last season) and the only focus now is to win. I just want to bring it every night and become more consistent. I want to guard the best player on the other team and be able to shoot well from the free-throw line and on 3s. I learned a lot from the seniors last year. The biggest thing I learned was to lead by example. I transformed my body and make sure to go hard at practice. I want to be one of the first guys on every sprint. It's not about me, it's all about the team."
Not very many people thought Francis would make it to his senior season or hear him talk about embracing the unselfish role. Playing for a program of truth-tellers, Francis would admit that there were times he thought he wasn't going to make it. His coaches thought the same. That's the truth. It's what makes a senior year special when you think about how many players don't make it to that final season of college basketball.Â
"Coaches always want to reach every player, but unfortunately that's not reality," Beard said. "It's the player that has to take the steps. I'm really proud of him but he'll be the first to tell you that it's a daily process. He knows he has to stay focused and commit himself like he's never done before to have a great senior season and reach his goals. He's come a long way from the struggles he had growing up in the Dominican Republic, a coaching change at his first school, coming here and not everything happening for him as easily as he might have expected. You can't help but pull for a guy like that."
You don't need no life when you living the Dream... ?? #Mentor pic.twitter.com/AbFCe4hnKF
— Brandone Francis R. (@Brand1fr) September 8, 2018
Players Mentioned
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