NCAA Basketball: Damaria Franklin becomes interesting free agent transfer
At the end of August, an All-Conference player Damaria Franklin enters the NCAA Basketball transfer portal. Where will he ultimately end up?
In their last season in the Horizon League, Illinois-Chicago finished 14-16 overall and 9-10 in league play. The MVP of the team was Damaria Franklin, a transfer from Tennessee Tech that averaged a team-leading 17.8 ppg and 6.9 rpg. The 6’4 guard had three double-doubles and was in double-figure scoring in all but two games.
Franklin showed that he can be a leading player early on, going for 23 points and 11 rebounds at Valparaiso and producing 24 points and 12 rebounds against DePaul. He went for 20+ points on eight different occasions, including a season-high 28 points at Robert Morris. Franklin is a great rebounder for someone his size and can score in a number of ways, including driving to the basket and creating offense for himself and others.
The Flames moved to the Missouri Valley this offseason and the hope was that Franklin would lead them in year one of a more difficult conference. But for one reason or another, the leading scorer became the latest entrant to the NCAA Basketball transfer portal.
UIC transfer Damaria Franklin has heard from Iowa State, Mississippi State, DePaul, Memphis, Murray State, Arizona State, Alabama, Oklahoma, Kansas State and Tampa in his first day in the portal.
— Hoop Scoop Media™️ (@HoopScoopMedia) August 27, 2022
Franklin averaged 17.8 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists this year. pic.twitter.com/2bPcFxbaeB
Despite around 1,500 players having entered the portal this offseason, there are plenty of programs that could use another guard on the roster. So it makes sense that Franklin would have plenty of early interest. But for the power conference programs, I’d take caution.
The strength of the 6’4 guard isn’t shooting, making just 30% from three-point range on over five attempts a game. And if bigger guards prevent his ability to drive to the basket, Franklin’s offensive production can take a big dip.
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Still, he’s a talented guard with one more year of eligibility so the worst-case scenario would be that things don’t work out well and both sides move on in the offseason. Damaria Franklin instantly becomes the best player in the portal and should be able to play this upcoming season. But with school already getting started at plenty of places, it can’t be a long recruitment. So expect an update sooner than later.