'14 FL SG Brandone Francis

[bearcat18]

Attends Arlington Country Day. Teammates with Dante Buford. Has offers from FIU, USF, Ole Miss, and Illinois.


And strength is a good starting point for Francis. At 6-5, 200-pound, Francis bullied the smaller Dream Vision guards throughout the game. He constantly applied the pressure defensively, made pin point, crisp passes in transition and worked his way into the lane in the half court offense.

Plenty of schools are in pursuit of Francis. He listed offers from Washington, South Carolina, Ole Miss, Kansas State, SMU Minnesota, Georgia and Cincinnati. Indiana, Florida and Illinois are showing interest.

Indiana, Florida, Kansas State, Minnesota and Cincinnati are the most recent schools to check on him at Arlington Country Day School. Larry Brown of SMU was in the stands watching him Friday.

Francis listed Florida, Illinois, Kansas State and Minnesota as schools he would like to visit in the near future.

http://247sports.com/Article/Brandone-Francis-stands-out-at-adidas-Exclusive-Run-127310

 

[bearcat jeff]

Francis is a 6-foot-5 shooting guard from the Dominican Republic who plays at Jacksonville (Fla.) Arlington Country Day. He's a strong kid who has a good-looking stroke and a high level of skill to go with his strength and willingness to play with physicality. Rated as a three-star prospect, Francis will be in contention for the 2014 Rivals150. He has a wide array of interest and offers coming from Illinois, Minnesota, SMU (head coach Larry Brown watched), Kansas State, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Cincinnati, Indiana, Florida, Rutgers, West Virginia, Washington and others.

http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1497590

 

[mplebanon]

Francis is a 6-foot-5 shooting guard from the Dominican Republic who plays at Jacksonville (Fla.) Arlington Country Day. He's a strong kid who has a good-looking stroke and a high level of skill to go with his strength and willingness to play with physicality. Rated as a three-star prospect, Francis will be in contention for the 2014 Rivals150. He has a wide array of interest and offers coming from Illinois, Minnesota, SMU (head coach Larry Brown watched), Kansas State, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Cincinnati, Indiana, Florida, Rutgers, West Virginia, Washington and others.

http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1497590

That's a tall shooting guard.

And what's the deal with UC's connection with Arlington? Interesting.

 

[bearcat18]

Jeff Borzello ‏@jeffborzello 7m
2014 prospect Brandone Francis says he just picked up an offer from Florida. Francis reportedly had a monster weekend in Dallas.

 

[bearcat jeff]

Entering the weekend, 6-foot-5 shooting guard Brandon Francis had a name that was already ringing out with high major coaches and scouts. A junior from the Dominican Republic who plays his high school ball at Jacksonville (Fla.) Arlington Country Day, Francis was a considered a well-regarded, three-star prospect at the beginning of the Adidas Exclusive Run.

After a big weekend where he led his Florida Elite squad to a title and earned MVP honors, there's little doubt that Francis has earned a spot in the 2014 Rivals150, once it gets updated. In fact, it's a virtual lock that he will enter the rankings as a four-star prospect.

Francis has good size and a strong frame to go along with a well-developed skill set. He is efficient off the dribble, can pass and he can turn on the switch and score when necessary. His interest widespread from programs such as Miami, Kansas State, SMU, Illinois, South Carolina, Cincinnati, Rutgers, West Virginia, Washington and several more. After his performance this weekend, Francis added an offer from SEC powerhouse Florida

http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1499316

 

[JackBauer151]

Alex Kline ‏@TheRecruitScoop
Florida State & Indiana have offered 2014 Florida Elite SG Brandon Francis, per his coach.

 

[bearcat jeff]

A standout with Florida Elite at the Adidas Exclusive Run, Francis is underrated and -- for now -- unranked. At 6-foot-5, he's strong, has a great feel for the game and can do a little bit of everything. But he has to show that he can be consistent. However, if the Francis that played in Duncanville is the real Francis, then he is in the argument for best senior in the state of Florida. Florida, Louisville, Miami, Alabama, Indiana, Florida State Washington, South Carolina, West Virginia and many others are turning up the heat.

http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1501693

 

[bearcat18]

Jerry Meyer ‏@jerrymeyer247

247Sports 5-star prospect Brandone Francis has Florida, Indiana, Illinois, Cincinnati & West Virginia at top of list. http://247sports.com/Player/Brandone-Francis-20958 …

 

[JackBauer151]

Gonna be tough to pull him out of the swamp.

 

[mplebanon]

Gonna be tough to pull him out of the swamp.

Yep. Always disconcerting when the big boys get involved. You never know how much money is flowing at that point. LOL.

But if UC has been in on him awhile, there's always a chance.

 

[bearcat18]

Gonna be tough to pull him out of the swamp.

Yep. As mentioned in another thread, Florida and Louisville will be tough to beat. Louisville hasn't really started recruiting him too hard yet, but Pitino just hired Mike Balado to his staff, who has strong Florida ties and was helpful to Francis in landing him at ACD.

He's a Florida fan and his family is friends with Al Horford's.

I don't think this will be his final five, but it's nice to be there. Hopefully he makes it up for a visit with his teammate Dante Buford.

 

[JackBauer151]

Jerry Meyer ‏@jerrymeyer247
A lot of chatter going on about a Brandon Francis (#21 247Sports/#170 247Composite) 2 Florida commitment coming soon.

 

[JackBauer151]

Alex Kline ‏@TheRecruitScoop
Miami has offered 2014 Florida Elite SG Brandone Francis.

 

[bearcat18]

Francis now has offers from Indiana, Florida, Washington, Connecticut, Miami, West Virginia, Cincinnati, Florida State, Minnesota, Illinois, St. John's, USC, Oklahoma State and South Carolina.

Florida, Cincinnati, Connecticut and Florida State are coming at him the hardest.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/blog/eye-on-college-basketball/22259889/guard-brandone-francis-continues-to-pick-up-offers

 

[Bearcatboy]

From Adam Zagoria:

If you haven’t heard of Brandone Francis, get used to the name.

The 6-foot-5, 205-pound junior combo guard from Jacksonville (Fla.) Arlington Country Day has catapulted himself from a 3-star recruit to a borderline 5-star recruit in the past couple months.

Francis’ coach, Rex Morgan, feels that Francis’ health has been a key to his recent emergence.

“He broke his wrist last year, hurt his knee this year and got sidelined with the flu for a little bit,” Morgan told SNY.tv. “Now he’s gotten healthier, started to knock down shots with more confidence, and now he’s in the best shape of his life.”

A native of the Dominican Republic, Francis admits that the transition to America wasn’t the easiest for him.

“You don’t even know how hard it was on me.” Francis said. “To be honest, I thought I was an alright basketball player. But I came here and saw all of these great players, I saw how the game went with all of the speed, and how they played. It was very tough at first. But after a while, I got used to it and now I get it.”

Most recently, Francis competed down in Miami at Adidas Nations, with some of the best players in the country in the classes of 2014-2016, a cast of which included Trey Lyles, Jahlil Okafor, Cliff Alexander and Emmanuel Mudiay.

“It was fun, a lot of fun,” Francis said. “It’s unbelievable to go at it against the best players in high school and I think I learned a lot. When you go to those camps, everyone wants to stand out, and I just did my best to do my job.”

Francis currently holds offers from Indiana, Florida, Washington, UConn, Miami, West Virginia, Cincinnati, Florida State, Louisville, Minnesota, Illinois, St. John’s USC, Oklahoma State and South Carolina.

He lists UConn, Florida, Illinois, Louisville and West Virginia as the schools that are going after him the hardest, but he insists that he doesn’t have any favorites.

Francis doesn’t let any of the mounting pressure get to him.

“People always have something to say, but I just try to have fun, and prove myself when I’m on the court.”

 

[bearcat jeff]

Florida Elite won yet another Adidas event in the 17-and-under division, going even further to leave a bad taste in the mouths of opposing Adidas circuits that simply can't figure out the Sunshine State squad.

While he didn't have as dominant of a weekend as he had in April when Rivals covered the Adidas VIP Run in Dallas, Elite's heart and soul, three-star guard Brandone Francis, was a standout during Sunday's championship run.

The great part about Francis' game is not just his will to win, but his ability to make his teammates rise to his level of competitiveness. The fiery 6-foot-5 off-guard can lead a team in scoring by attacking off the dribble or by shooting the ball in the mid-to-long-range game, but it is his demeanor that separates him from most of his peers in the eyes of scouts and college coaches.

An Arlington (Fla.) Country Day prospect, Francis is no stranger to top competition on a year-round basis, which could explain how he transitioned so quickly and efficiently from high school to the travel circuit this April when some other top prospects struggled.

With offers from Indiana, Florida, Florida State, South Carolina, Cincinnati and many more, Francis continues to be one of the hottest prospects in the nation heading into a busy summer.

http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1509471

 

[bearcat jeff]

Finally, Francis came off a huge junior season at Arlington (Fla.) Country Day and continued his high level of play on the spring circuit with Florida Elite. The 6-foot-5 guard has a fiery demeanor, he can score in bunches, and he is one of the better leaders on the circuit. With an aggressive mindset to attack the rim, but also skills in the midrange game, Francis has established himself as one of the more difficult matchups on the Adidas trail. He has led his team to multiple championships at some of the biggest events in the nation in April and May.

Indiana, Florida, Florida State, Cincinnati, West Virginia and South Carolina are some of the schools that have offered Francis this spring, and the intensity in this recruitment should pick up, especially when Francis rises to four-star status as he is expected to do in the next Rivals150.

http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1509883

 

[bearcat jeff]

Others that have offered scholarships include Illinois, Florida, Indiana, Oklahoma State, Florida State, Miami, Washington, West Virginia and Cincinnati. He has so much interest from college programs that it has become virtually impossible to not miss naming a school when asked who has shown interest.

Though the interest might overwhelm some prospects, Francis is in no rush to make a decision or cut down his list. He'll continue to travel the grassroots circuit with the Adidas sponsored Florida Elite and has stops planned at the prestigious Deron Williams and Chris Paul Skill's Academies as well as the NBPA Top 100.

Eventually he'll cut down his college list and he says that finding a place that fits his playing style and develop him for the pros is important. For now, though, he's not even sure what position he will play in college and is simply focused on the moment and continuing to get better.

"To be honest, in college, I don't know what position I will play," said Francis. "I'll go out and play the position that the coach needs. If the coach needs me to play the point, I will play the point. I can play either the point or the two. When I play the point and have the ball in my hands, I can make plays.

"I just want to work on my whole game. I'm focused on not slipping on anything and keeping my handles and my defense up. I just want to become a better leader."

http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1510776

 

[bearcat jeff]

A 6-foot-5 shooting guard out of Jacksonville (Fla.) Arlington Country Day, Francis has impressed with his overall size, skill and ability to play on or off the ball. He's already done enough to warrant an entrance in the rankings at the high four-star level but a strong outing in Charlottesville could really help his case for five-star status.

http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1515087

 

[JackBauer151]

Alex Kline ‏@TheRecruitScoop
Providence, Boston College, USC & Washington have offered 2014 guard Brandone Francis of Florida Elite.