Vashon High School has retired Will Franklin’s familiar No. 2, and no other player will wear the number that carried the talented receiver to All-State status as a prep star and then to the University of Missouri. After helping Mizzou make a run for a national championship, Franklin was drafted in the fourth round of the NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs and will wear No. 85. When asked if he will see much action his rookie season, Franklin said “Definitely, I can come in and play at that level and at a high level. My goal is to come in and establish myself as the next receiver.” He is certainly looking forward to the August 29 Governor’s Cup game in Kansas City against the St. Louis Rams.
Photo by Wiley Price
Free from Iowa, Freeman a Saluki
The blatant unfairness of the NCAA was put center stage again this week when junior Tony Freeman, the Iowa Hawkeyes’ leading scorer and one of the Big Ten’s better backcourt men, announced he is transferring to Southern Illinois-Carbondale.
His talent will not be on display next season, though. He is forced to sit out a season to stay within NCAA regulations. He also uses a year of eligibility, so the Salukis will have him for just the 2009-10 season.
Meanwhile, any coach anywhere can quit on a moment’s notice and have a job waiting for him or her at another NCAA institution.
The players surrender a season of eligibility for choosing to go elsewhere.
The coach can abandon players, get a fat pay raise and keep right on doing their jobs without any delay.
Is this fair?
Meanwhile, coach Chris Lowery has the scorer he desperately needs – if only for a year and a year from now.
A third team All Big Ten player, Freeman averaged 13.8 points and 3.2 assists per game. He also contributed 3.1 rebounds a game for the Hawkeyes.
He said coach Lowery made him feel welcome and wanted – something he did not get from Iowa coach Todd Lickliter and Hawkeye fans.
“They said they wanted me, even if it was just for one year. As an athlete, that’s what I wanted to here,” Freeman told the Des Moines Register.
There is an AAU connection to all of this, by the way.
Freeman hails from Maywood, Ill. His former AAU coach, Nick Irvin is the brother of Saluki assistant coach Lance Irvin.
“Coach Lowery, Nick, Lance and I were on the phone together after they learned I was looking for a new school. They said they needed a guy like me, even if it was for just a year, to come in and help lead and mentor younger players,” Freeman said.
Those younger players include freshmen forward Anthony Booker and guard Torres Roundtree of McCluer North.
After a down season, Lowery also netted Illinois Mr. Basketball Kevin Dillard of Homewood-Flossmoor to help the Salukis.
As for Freeman, the 21-year-old said Lickliter “insinuated that I wasn’t compatible with the system.” Freeman was recruited by former Hawkeye coach Steve Alford, a fact that Lickliter held against him.
When Lickliter picked Jarryd Cole and Cyrus Tate to be co-captains for the 2008-09 season, Freeman said he felt “disrespected” and sought a new team and college.
Is it just the SportsEye, or does Lickliter sound like an area Division 1 coach entering his second season?