Brandone Edward Francis Ramírez (born September 10, 1994) is a Dominican professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player who last played for the

Phoenix Fuel Masters The Phoenix Fuel Masters is a professional basketball team owned by Phoenix Petroleum, Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc., which debuted in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) in the 2015–16 PBA season, 2016 2016 PBA Commissioner's C ...

of the

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines, composed of twelve company-branded Franchising, franchise teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia ...

(PBA). He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

Texas Tech Red Raiders The Texas Tech Red Raiders and Lady Raiders are the athletic teams that represent Texas Tech University, located in Lubbock, Texas, United States. The women's basketball team uses the name Lady Raiders, while the school's other women's teams us ...

and the

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville, Florida, Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni an ...

College career

Francis

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

his freshman season at

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

for academic reasons. As a redshirt freshman, he averaged two points in 10.8 minutes per game. Francis transferred to

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship institution of the five- ...

, sitting out his following season due to

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) transfer rules. As a junior, Francis averaged 5.1 points and 1.9 rebounds per game. In the 2019 NCAA Division I championship game, his final college appearance, he scored a team-high 17 points in an 85–77

overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...

loss to first-seeded

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. As a senior, Francis averaged 6.5 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game.

Professional career

On August 15, 2019, Francis was selected by

Metros de Santiago Metros de Santiago is a professional basketball team based in Santiago de los Caballeros, Santiago, Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in ...

with the first overall pick in the Dominican

Liga Nacional de Baloncesto The Liga Nacional de Baloncesto (LNB) is the top men's professional basketball league in the Dominican Republic. Established in 2005, six teams compete annually between September and October. History The league was founded on September 6, 2004 ...

draft. One week later, he signed his first professional contract with the team. Francis led Metros to the league championship game. In 21 appearances, he averaged 11.3 points per game. On November 20, 2019, Francis signed with the

Iowa Wolves The Iowa Wolves are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Des Moines, Iowa, and are affiliated with the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Wolves play their home games at the Wells Fargo Arena and compete in the Western ...

of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

. In 20 games, he averaged 2.8 points in 8.4 minutes per game. Francis tested positive for and recovered from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

in June 2020. On August 9, he signed with

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiqu ...

of the Spanish

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...

. In 2022, Francis signed for Prawira Harum Bandung of the

Indonesian Basketball League The Indonesia Basketball League (IBL; ) is the preeminent men's professional basketball league in Indonesia, founded by Indonesian Basketball Association (Perbasi) in 2003. From 2010 to 2015 it was known as the National Basketball League (NBL) ...

(IBL). In regular season, he averaged 23.9 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game in 25.3 minutes per game, earning him IBL Foreign Player of The Year as well as leading Prawira Harum Bandung to their first ever championship since 1998. He recorded his IBL career high in a 78–61 win against RANS PIK Basketball scoring 41 points on 12-of-26 shooting and 15 from 21 from free throw line. On February 14, 2024. Prawira Harum Bandung announced that Francis would return for the rest of 2023–24 season after a disappointing performance for the team through five games of the season in which they went 2–3. In his return debut, Francis scored 16 points and 5 rebounds on 5-of-10 shooting in 82–78 win against

Borneo Hornbills Borneo Hornbills is an Indonesian professional basketball team currently playing in the Indonesian Basketball League (IBL) based in the city of Bogor, West Java. It was formerly known as ''Bumi Borneo Pontianak'' and were playing in Pontianak f ...

On September 2, 2024, Francis signed the

of the

(PBA) to replace Jayveous McKinnis as the team's import for the

2024 PBA Governors' Cup The 2024 PBA Governors' Cup, also known as the 2024 Honda PBA Governors' Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the first conference of the 2024–25 PBA season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The 22nd edition of the Governors' Cup ...

Personal life

Francis' father, Bobby, played college basketball for

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

in the 1980s. Bobby later worked as a brand strategist in the entertainment industry, developing a close relationship with rapper

Nipsey Hussle Ermias Joseph Asghedom (born Airmiess Joseph Asghedom; August 15, 1985 – March 31, 2019), known professionally as Nipsey Hussle, was an American rapper, entrepreneur, and activist. Emerging from the West Coast hip-hop scene in the mid-20 ...

. Francis' mother, Kenia Ramírez, lives in the Dominican Republic. He met her for the first time in two years during senior night at Texas Tech in 2019.

References

External links

Florida Gators bioTexas Tech Red Raiders bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Francis, Brandone 1994 births Living people Basketball players at the 2023 Pan American Games Dominican Republic expatriate sportspeople in Indonesia Dominican Republic expatriate basketball people in the Philippines Dominican Republic expatriate basketball people in Spain Dominican Republic expatriate basketball people in the United States Dominican Republic men's basketball players Florida Gators men's basketball players Gipuzkoa Basket players Iowa Wolves players Liga ACB players Metros de Santiago players Philippine Basketball Association imports Phoenix Fuel Masters players Prawira Bandung players Sportspeople from La Romana, Dominican Republic Shooting guards Small forwards Texas Tech Red Raiders basketball players Taurinos de Aragua players 21st-century Dominican Republic sportsmen Cafeteros de Armenia players