Robert Christopher Franks Jr. (born December 18, 1996) is an American 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 for

Ibaraki Robots The are a Japanese professional basketball team based in Mito, Japan. They compete in the Eastern Conference of the First Division of the Japanese B.League. The team's name originates from its initial location in Tsukuba, Japan, which is well ...

of the

B.League The B.League is a men's professional basketball league in Japan. The league is operated by the Japan Professional Basketball League and was formed as a result of a merger between the National Basketball League that was operated by the FIBA-affi ...

. 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

Washington State Cougars The Washington State Cougars (known informally as the Cougs) are the sport, athletic teams that represent Washington State University. Located in Pullman, Washington, WSU is a member of the Pac-12 Conference in NCAA Division I. The athletic pr ...

Early life

Franks grew up in

Vancouver, Washington Vancouver ( ) is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, located in Clark County, Washington, Clark County. Founded in 1825 and incorporated in 1857, Vancouver had a population of 190, ...

and attended Evergreen High School, where he was a captain of the school's basketball team for his final three years. As a junior, he averaged 19 points and eight rebounds per game and was named All-Region by ''

The Columbian ''The Columbian'' is a daily newspaper serving the Vancouver, Washington, and Clark County, Washington area. It is owned by the Campbell family and is the newspaper of record for Vancouver and Washougal. History Tom Carolan first published t ...

'' and honorable mention Class 4A All-State by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

. Rated a three star recruit and one of the 25 top recruits in the state by ''

The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is an American daily newspaper based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1891, ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region. The Seattle Time ...

'', Franks committed to play college basketball at Washington State University going into his senior year. Franks was again named All-Region and honorable mention All-State as a senior.

College career

Franks played four seasons for the

, playing exclusively off the bench during his first two years with the team. He appeared in 23 games as a freshman, averaging 2.2 points per game and 8.3 minutes played. In his sophomore season, he appeared in all 30 of the Cougars games and averaged 6.3 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. He entered the starting lineup at the beginning of his junior year after losing over 25 pounds during the offseason. Franks finished the season 7th in the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level for all sports, and its Co ...

with 17.4 points per game while also averaging 6.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists and was named honorable mention All-Pac-12 and the Pac-12 Most Improved Player of the Year. During the season he set a school record for most three-pointers made in a game with ten (on 13 attempts) against

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

on January 13, 2018, scoring a then-career high 34 points in total. Following the season Franks declared for the

2018 NBA draft The 2018 NBA Draft was held on June 21, 2018, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, including internationa ...

, but did not hire an agent. He ultimately withdrew from the draft after deciding to return to Washington State for his senior season. As a senior Franks played in 27 games (26 starts) for Washington State, missing five games due to injury, and averaged a conference-best 21.6 points per game (24th highest in the nation) and finished with the ninth-highest rebounding average with 7.2 per game and was named first team All-Pac-12 and became the first WSU player to be named to the NABC All-District 20 team since

Brock Motum Brock William Motum (born 16 October 1990) is an Australian professional basketball player for Shiga Lakes of the Japanese B.League. He is also a member of the Australian national basketball team. College career Motum, a power forward-centre f ...

in 2012.

Professional career

Charlotte Hornets / Greensboro Swarm (2019–2020)

Franks worked out for several teams and participated in 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 ...

Elite Camp before the

2019 NBA draft The 2019 NBA draft was held on June 20, 2019. It took place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible p ...

, but was not selected. Franks signed a two-way contract with the

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team ...

and their

affiliate, the

Greensboro Swarm The Greensboro Swarm are an American basketball team of the NBA G League based in Greensboro, North Carolina, and are affiliated with the Charlotte Hornets. The Swarm play their home games at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex. The team became the ...

on July 3, 2019. On January 15, 2020, the

announced that they had waived Franks, without his appearing in a game for the parent team. He averaged 18.5 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game for the Swarm.

Stockton Kings (2020)

On February 4, 2020, Franks was traded to the

Stockton Kings The Stockton Kings are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Stockton, California, and are affiliated with the Sacramento Kings. The Kings play their home games at the Adventist Health Arena and compete in the G ...

in exchange for the returning player rights to Daniel Ochefu and the Kings' first-round pick in the 2020 G League draft. On February 19, Franks recorded 29 points and 10 rebounds in a loss to the Agua Caliente Clippers.

Lakeland / Orlando Magic (2021)

On November 27, 2020, Franks signed with the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NB ...

. He was waived at the conclusion of training camp, but added to the roster of their G League affiliate, the

Lakeland Magic The Osceola Magic are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Kissimmee, Florida, and are affiliated with the Orlando Magic. The Magic began play in the 2017–18 season as the Lakeland Magic, and now play their ho ...

. He played in 14 games and averaged 12.1 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 24.5 minutes, while shooting .508 from the floor and .356 from three-point range and in three playoff matches, he averaged 16 points, 8 rebounds and 1 assist in 29.7 minutes, while shooting .581 from the field and .563 from behind the arc en route to the G League title. On April 12, 2021, Franks signed a 10-day contract with Orlando. On April 22, he signed a second 10-day contract, but was waived five days later.

Brisbane Bullets (2021–2022)

On August 28, 2021, Franks signed with the

Brisbane Bullets The Brisbane Bullets are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL) based in Brisbane, Queensland. They competed from 1979 to 2008, and returned to the league in 2016. Brisbane were one of ten NBL ...

in Australia for the

2021–22 NBL season The 2021–22 NBL season was the 44th season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of ten teams contested the 2021–22 season, which commenced on 3 December 2021. Australian broadcast rights to the season ...

Adelaide 36ers (2022–2023)

On June 10, 2022, Franks signed a two-year deal with the

Adelaide 36ers The Adelaide 36ers are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL). The 36ers are the only team in the league representing the state of South Australia and are based in the state's capital of Adela ...

. He parted ways with the 36ers after one season.

Hapoel Gilboa Galil (2023)

On February 14, 2023, Franks signed with

Hapoel Gilboa Galil Hapoel Gilboa Galil () is a professional basketball club that is based in north-east Israel. The club plays its home game in the Israeli Basketball Premier League (the top tier of Israeli basketball) in a 2,250-seat arena in Gan Ner. History T ...

of the

Israeli Basketball Premier League Ligat HaAl (, lit., ''Supreme League or Premier League''), or the Israeli Basketball Premier League, is a professional basketball league in Israel and the highest level of basketball in the country. The league's name is abbreviated as either BSL ...

Career statistics

Regular season

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Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

, 7 , , 0 , , 14.4 , , .464 , , .333 , , .923 , , 2.0 , , .7 , , .4 , , .4 , , 6.1 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 7 , , 0 , , 14.4 , , .464 , , .333 , , .923 , , 2.0 , , .7 , , .4 , , .4 , , 6.1

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;",

Washington State Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

, 23, , 0 , , 8.3 , , .280 , , .222 , , .762 , , 1.3 , , .4 , , 0.0 , , .2 , , 2.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;",

, 30 , , 0 , , 16.6 , , .442 , , .311 , , .732 , , 3.3 , , .8 , , .1 , , .6 , , 6.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;",

, 30 , , 30 , , 33.0 , , .476 , , .405, , .854 , , 6.6 , , 1.9 , , .5 , , 1.0 , , 17.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, 27 , , 26 , , 34.4 , , .493 , , .399 , , .848 , , 7.2 , , 2.6 , , .7 , , .7, , 21.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 110 , , 56 , , 23.7 , , .467 , , .378 , , .829 , , 4.7 , , 1.5 , , .3 , , .6 , , 12.2

References

External links

Washington State Cougars bioNBA G League profileRealGM profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Franks, Robert 1996 births Living people 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen Adelaide 36ers players American expatriate basketball people in Australia American expatriate basketball people in Japan American men's basketball players Basketball players from Washington (state) Brisbane Bullets players Greensboro Swarm players Hapoel Gilboa Galil players Ibaraki Robots players Lakeland Magic players Nagoya Diamond Dolphins players Orlando Magic players Power forwards Sportspeople from Vancouver, Washington Stockton Kings players Undrafted NBA players Washington State Cougars men's basketball players