Washington State forward Robert Franks (3) runs on the court during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against California in Pullman, Wash., Saturday, Jan. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/Young Kwak) Photo Gallery
Before heading into the summer last year, Robert Franks spoke with Washington State basketball coach Ernie Kent.
The Evergreen High School graduate had just come off a season when he played just over 16 minutes and averaged just over six points per game. But Kent had high expectations of him for the upcoming season, expectations that matched what Franks had for himself.
“The conversation was basically, ‘This is going to be your team,’ ” Franks said. “They had great confidence in me, they knew I was capable of doing what I’m doing (now).”
More than halfway through the season, Franks has delivered.
The junior is averaging a team-high 17.7 points and 6.9 rebounds a game for the Cougars. He’s the seventh-highest scorer in the Pac-12 Conference entering the weekend.
In WSU’s lone conference win, Franks drilled 10 3-pointers — a school record — on his way to putting up a career-high 34 points.
“This year I’ve been able to blossom,” Franks said. “On the stage I am getting big minutes, being able to take 10-12 shot a game has allowed me to showcase it even more.”
Franks’ stark improvement from a meddling rotation player into a bona fide team leader didn’t just come from an increase in playing time — which he has received — or a pep talk from coaches and former teammates (he consistently corresponds with multi-year standouts Josh Hawkinson and Ike Iroegbu).
He returned to Vancouver in the offseason and worked out three times a day with Paul Cannon, Clark College’s interim women’s basketball head coach and a former assistant at Evergreen High.
Through a training regimen that included increased cardio — running hills — and shooting drills while fatigued, Franks lost 20 pounds, and raised his confidence.
Cannon knew Franks’ potential. But in watching him play throughout his sophomore season, he saw parts of his game that needed fine-tuning.
“I’d seen a lot of hesitation in his game, he was hesitant to shoot the basketball,” Cannon said. “So we were just getting that out of his game, getting him comfortable and making it fluid so he’s not catching the ball and hesitating.”
Franks went to China to play with the USA Eagles, an amalgamation of NCAA and various professional basketball players. Playing against professionals, including some of the best players in the China Basketball Association, helped him return to the States with more confidence.
And it immediately showed.
“To think OK, all the hard work I put in all summer … it’s definitely something I’ve worked for,” Franks said. “It wasn’t luck or came easy. It came when I was in the gym, just me and my trainer putting up shots and getting in work.”
After his game with 10 3-pointers, Franks pointed back to the summer.
“Definitely when I have a great game like that, it’s something that I can tip my hat to myself where I’ve worked and where I’m going,” he said.
Cannon was watching the game on television and saw Franks hit a rhythm with his shot, just as he did last summer over the course of the thousands of jump shots he practiced.
“Once he hit seven I knew he was going to hit 10,” Cannon said. “He was lining them up.”
It’s been a special year for Franks. And the Cougars will lose just two seniors for next season, Franks’ senior year.
Franks hopes to lead the Cougars to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 10 years. To do so, in what many speculate is a down year for the Pac-12, WSU will likely have to win the Pac-12 Tournament.
But that’s not Franks’ only goal. He hopes to be named Pac-12 Most Improved Player of the Year. And as the seventh-highest scoring player in the conference, he’s putting together a case.
As the Cougars play at Washington on Sunday, a school that Franks feels slighted for not offering him a scholarship out of high school, the 6-foot-7 guard hopes to inspire aspiring college athletes from Clark County.
“To everybody back home in Vancouver who is striving to play at the Division-I level, or any collegiate level,” he said, “just keep working hard, focus on school most importantly but hard work is going to get you there.”
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