Yannick Ayrton Franke (born 21 May 1996) is a Dutch 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 ONVO Büyükçekmece of the

Basketbol Süper Ligi The Basketball Super League (; TBSL), also known as the Türkiye Sigorta Basketbol Süper Ligi for sponsorship reasons, is the top men's professional basketball division of the Turkish basketball league system. It replaced the former Turkish Bas ...

(BSL). He also represents the

Netherlands national basketball team The Netherlands men's national basketball team () represents the Netherlands in international basketball matches. The national team is governed by Basketball Nederland. The Dutch have reached the European Basketball Championship on 16 occasi ...

in international competition. Franke mainly plays at the

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game ...

position.

Professional career

Franke started his professional career with the Dutch powerhouse

ZZ Leiden ZZ Leiden Basketball, also known as Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden, is a professional basketball club based in Leiden, Netherlands. The club plays in the BNXT League, the domestic first tier league. Their home games are played at Sportcomplex 1574. Z ...

in the 2013–14 season. In December he transferred to lower-ranked

Challenge Sports Rotterdam Rotterdam City Basketball, is a Dutch professional basketball club based in Rotterdam. The team plays in the BNXT League and plays its home games at the Topsportcentrum next to De Kuip in Rotterdam. Established in 1954, it became the basketball s ...

, where he could get more playing time. In the 2014–15 season, Franke had a break-out year. He was the youngest scoring champion in the history of the Dutch DBL, after he recorded 19.6 points per game at age 19. He also won the DBL MVP Under 23 and DBL Most Improved Player Awards. For the 2015–16 season, Franke signed with

Donar Groningen Donar, also known as Donar Groningen, is a professional basketball club based in Groningen, Netherlands. The club competes in the BNXT League and its home arena is MartiniPlaza, which has a seating capacity of 4,350 people. Founded in 1951, Do ...

. On 15 February 2016, Franke left Donar. On 29 February 2016, he signed for the remainder of the season with Bisons Loimaa in Finland. On 20 September 2016, Franke signed with Promitheas Patras in Greece, but left the team without appearing in a single game. On 16 October 2016, he signed a three-year contract with

AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...

in Greece, but was released on 25 November, without appearing in an official game of the team. On 11 January 2017, he signed with Croatian club

Zadar Zadar ( , ), historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian, ; see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ...

. On 31 March 2017, he left Zadar after averaging 6 points and 2 rebounds per game in the

ABA League The ABA League, renamed the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the top-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedoni ...

. On 11 August 2017, Franke signed a two-year deal with Italian club

Aquila Basket Trento Aquila Basket Trento, also known for sponsorship reasons as Dolomiti Energia Trento, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Trento, Trent, Trentino. It was founded in 1995 as an amalgamation of two local clubs, going from the amateur ...

. In the 2017–18 LBA season, Franke reached the finals with Trento, where it lost to

Olimpia Milano Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano, commonly known as Olimpia Milano or as EA7 Emporio Armani Milan after its title sponsor, is an LBA Italian professional basketball team, based in Milan, Italy. Its colors are white and red, and the team is sometimes ...

. In October 2018, Franke signed with Pieno žvaigždės of the Lithuanian LKL. On 12 July 2019, Franke signed a one-year contract with

Hamburg Towers Hamburg Towers, for sponsorship reasons named Veolia Towers Hamburg, is a professional basketball team, based in Hamburg, Germany. After promotion from the ProA in 2019, the Towers are currently playing in the Basketball Bundesliga, the top tier ...

of the German

Basketball Bundesliga The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) (English language: ''Federal Basketball League''), for sponsorship reasons named easyCredit BBL, is the German basketball league system, highest level Sports league, league of professional club basketball in German ...

(BBL). On 8 August 2020, Franke signed with SLUC Nancy of the French

LNB Pro B The LNB Pro B, commonly known as Pro B, is the second-tier level men's professional basketball league in France. It is the second division of the Ligue Nationale de Basket (LNB), which has organized the league since the year 1987. The regular se ...

. On 17 December 2020, Franke signed with

Start Lublin Start Lublin, officially Polski Cukier Pszczółka Start Lublin for sponsporship reasons, is a Polish basketball club based in Lublin. The team plays in the Polish Basketball League (PLK) since 2014. Its home arena is the Globus, which has places f ...

. On 2 August 2021, he signed with

Trefl Sopot Trefl Sopot is a Polish professional basketball team, based in Sopot, Poland. The team plays in the Polish Basketball League and EuroCup Basketball, EuroCup. The club was founded as the replacement of Asseco Gdynia, Prokom Asseco Sopot that left ...

of the

Polish Basketball League Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK) (English language, English: Polish Basketball League), officially known as the Orlen Basket Liga due to its sponsorship by Orlen, is a professional men's club basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Poland. I ...

. On 2 March 2022, he signed with MoraBanc Andorra 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 ...

. On 11 July 2022, Franke signed with

PAOK PAOK (, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινοπολιτών, ''Panthessalonikeios Athlitikós Ómilos Constantinopoliton'', ''Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans''), commonly ...

of the

Greek Basket League The Greek Basketball League (GBL), and also known as the Stoiximan Greek Basketball League (GBL) for sponsorship reasons, is the Greek basketball league system, first tier level professional basketball league in Greece. It is run by the ...

and the

Basketball Champions League The Basketball Champions League (BCL), also commonly known as the FIBA Champions League, is an annual professional basketball competition for European sports club, clubs, organised by FIBA. It is the European professional club basketball system ...

. In 31 domestic league games, he averaged 15.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.5 turnovers, playing around 27 minutes per contest. On 27 July 2023, Franke signed with

Palencia Palencia () is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Palencia. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, in the northern half of ...

of the

. On 29 February 2024, he signed with ONVO Büyükçekmece of the

(BSL).

International career

Franke made his debut for the Dutch national basketball team on 31 July 2015 in a 55–59 loss against

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Franke was a member of the Dutch team that played at

EuroBasket 2015 EuroBasket 2015 was the 39th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe. It was co-hosted by Croatia, France, Germany, and Latvia, making it the first EuroBasket held in more than one country. It started on 5 Sept ...

, where the team had a 1–4 record. Franke played in one game, a 72–78 loss against

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, and he scored 3 points in the match.

Family

Franke comes from a much-lauded basketball family. Father

Rolf Franke Rolf Franke (born 7 April 1967) is a Dutch retired basketball player and current coach. As a player, Franke played for multiple clubs in the Netherlands and he represented the Dutch national basketball team in 60 games as well. He is the son of ...

was eight times Dutch basketball champion in the 1990s, played 60 international matches for the Netherlands and was the coach of ZZ Leiden from 2018 to 2020. Grandfather Wim Franke was regarded as one of the best basketball players in the country in the 1960s and made 47 international appearances.

Honours

Individual

* DBL All-Rookie Team: 2014–15 * DBL Most Improved Player: 2014–15 * DBL MVP Under 23: 2014–15 *

DBL All-Star The Dutch Basketball League All-Star Gala was a yearly basketball event in the Netherlands, organised by the Federatie Eredivisie Basketball (FEB). During the event the yearly All-Star Game was played, which included the best players of a given DB ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

* DBL scoring champion: 2014–15 * LKL Newcomer of the Year: 2018–19 *

Eurobasket.com Eurobasket.com, also commonly referred to as "Eurobasket News", is a basketball-centered website that provides coverage of every professional and semi-professional club basketball league from around the world, as well as many amateur level lea ...

LKL All-Imports team: 2018–19 *

All- BBL Honorable mention: 2019–20 * GBL All-Star:

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

References

External links