New Julius Francis Video

[smupony]

Francis had 11 pts last night against Carroll High. 3-3 on free throws.

[Stallion]

signs of progress-12 points on 6 FGs

[Charleston Pony]

From what little I saw of him in the Charleston tourney, I think Julius will step on campus with more skills on the offensive side of the ball than Bamba had when he arrived. Looking back, Bamba started 14 games as a FR and averaged 5.8 pts and 4.1 boards. As a SR, he's averaging 8.9 pts and 7.3 boards. Bamba has been good for 2.5 clocks per game his entire career.

I'd like to see a little improvement in those numbers, but I expect Julius to have a career very similar to Bamba's at SMU...unless Doherty is able to sign a dominant big who will reduce Julius to a backup role.

[Stallion]

a positive report on Francis from 2 weeks ago

#4 Bishop McNamara (MD) vs. #5 Good Counsel (MD)

The #4-#5 game was a battle as expected. Good Counsel led by 8 heading into the 4th quarter, but the Mustangs had a comeback in them on this day. George Mason commit Rashad Whack led the comeback along with senior guard Brendan Bazilio.

-SMU bound forward/center Julius Francis played well, especially in the first half against Pitt bound big man Talib Zanna. Gives some hope to an SMU program that has struggled this year.

-Good Counsel will make some noise next year as their roster, besides Francis and senior wing Recardo Gaddy, are all underclassmen. Point guard Rodney Glasgow, wing Ben Hazel and Louis Young will be a formidable backcourt along with Devon Wright-Nelson and Sean Wright up front. All will be scholarship level players.

-Bazilio is not the most heralded player on McNamara’s roster, but has had some big performances in big games this year. He finished with 13 on this day. Some D2 should offer and be happy with the player that they will get.

- Zanna had 14 points and 16 rebounds. Ho-hum. Seems to have a big effort every time out.

[Charleston Pony]

a positive report on Francis from 2 weeks ago

#4 Bishop McNamara (MD) vs. #5 Good Counsel (MD)

The #4-#5 game was a battle as expected. Good Counsel led by 8 heading into the 4th quarter, but the Mustangs had a comeback in them on this day. George Mason commit Rashad Whack led the comeback along with senior guard Brendan Bazilio.

-SMU bound forward/center Julius Francis played well, especially in the first half against Pitt bound big man Talib Zanna. Gives some hope to an SMU program that has struggled this year.

-Good Counsel will make some noise next year as their roster, besides Francis and senior wing Recardo Gaddy, are all underclassmen. Point guard Rodney Glasgow, wing Ben Hazel and Louis Young will be a formidable backcourt along with Devon Wright-Nelson and Sean Wright up front. All will be scholarship level players.

-Bazilio is not the most heralded player on McNamara’s roster, but has had some big performances in big games this year. He finished with 13 on this day. Some D2 should offer and be happy with the player that they will get.

- Zanna had 14 points and 16 rebounds. Ho-hum. Seems to have a big effort every time out.

I really liked what I saw of the Wright-Nelson kid as a 3. Would be nice to get in on him early. Not sure how his season went, but he sure looked good in the Charleston tourney.

[Stallion]

Julius Francis had his best offensive game of the year in a Public/Private School All-Star Game scoring 22 points. Again-don't know much about the competition but signs he has some potential scoring ability

http://www.gazette.net/stories/03252009 ... 2483.shtml

[papawasamustang]

Julius Francis had his best offensive game of the year in a Public/Private School All-Star Game scoring 22 points. Again-don't know much about the competition but signs he has some potential scoring ability

http://www.gazette.net/stories/03252009 ... 2483.shtml

His footwork isn't that bad for someone that could top out @ 6'10 or 6'11, 250 lbs. Hopefully he's jumping rope everyday & lifting. There's some video of this game showing a decent turnaround j & a short clip of him talking about the game.

[PonyDoh]

Julius Francis had his best offensive game of the year in a Public/Private School All-Star Game scoring 22 points. Again-don't know much about the competition but signs he has some potential scoring ability

http://www.gazette.net/stories/03252009 ... 2483.shtml

First, of the myriad of All-Star games in Balt/DC this week and last, this one couldn't be worse. That said, if he's gonna play vs. stiffs, glad to see he played well vs them

[Stallion]

yeah I guess its better to play well against All-Star stiffs than just your regular everyday stiffs

[smupony]

Julius Francis had his best offensive game of the year in a Public/Private School All-Star Game scoring 22 points. Again-don't know much about the competition but signs he has some potential scoring ability

http://www.gazette.net/stories/03252009 ... 2483.shtml

His footwork isn't that bad for someone that could top out @ 6'10 or 6'11, 250 lbs. Hopefully he's jumping rope everyday & lifting. There's some video of this game showing a decent turnaround j & a short clip of him talking about the game.

Where is that video? Link?

[The XtC]

Julius Francis had his best offensive game of the year in a Public/Private School All-Star Game scoring 22 points. Again-don't know much about the competition but signs he has some potential scoring ability

http://www.gazette.net/stories/03252009 ... 2483.shtml

I couldnt find a roster, but did find another article about the game, and I researched the names mentioned. It doesnt look like a very strong field. Jamal Olaswere is a top recruit who would have been the headliner, but he pulled out to play in a different game. The article does mention one other D1 recruit who is considering Tulsa, so that would be of mild interest to our constituency. Here is the text:

By
Pete Volk
on March 28, 2009 11:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ROCKVILLE - - Last Tuesday, VOLiSports.com held the first annual Montgomery County All-Star Basketball game, pitting the best public school players in the county against the best private school players. The Public squad prevailed in an upset, winning 107-98.

It was a fast-paced game throughout, and both teams were able to shoot well from beyond the arc. Three pointers by George Fountain III (Kennedy) and Stephen Griffin (Paint Branch) helped lead the public squad to an early 8-4 lead. A buzzer beating three by Brandon Davis (Springbrook) ended the first quarter at 34-20 Public.

Davis led all players with 9 points in the first quarter and finished with 15, second on Public. The Blue Devil also had four rebounds and two steals.

"I think I was able to score 15 against them by just going out and playing hard, like any other game." Davis said. "It was fun getting the chance to show why I was selected to play in this game. I really wanted to win, so I just did what I felt my team would benefit from."

Davis went on to say that one of the reasons the Public squad was able to mesh together on the court was that many of them played AAU, or Amateur Athletic Union, basketball, a popular amateur sports organization that top high school players usually play in during the summer.

With about four minutes left in the second quarter, an exchange worthy of an All-Star game took place. Recardo Gaddy (Good Counsel) of the private team took the ball down the court, was knocked over in the paint, and tossed the ball over his shoulder for the basket. Gaddy made the free throw attempt, bringing Private's deficit down to 53-44. On the following possession, Fountain answered with an and-1 of his own to put Public's lead back in double figures.

Gaddy led all players with 23 points on the night, and also had five rebounds. He made seven free throw attempts, and was very impressive as a total offensive player.

"Today was just a fun game to come out and show what you got," Gaddy said. "It was a good overall game, and I was glad to have an opportunity to play with all of these guys. I knew some of these guys from AAU, and some from the regular season and preseason. Stephen Griffin impressed me the most, the stuff he was doing with the ball and ball handling, it surprised me because I haven't seen that from him before."

Fountain led the Public team with 16 points. The Cavalier also had four rebounds and made three three-pointers, tied with Private's Paul Llewellyn (Georgetown Prep) for the most makes from beyond the arc.

"I felt like I slid into my role today," Fountain said. "You know, hit open shots, spread the defense out. We had some good drivers on the team who were able to space it out, guys set good screens, and I hit the shots. It was great. It was a good showing, the players were having fun. The coaches were relaxed, but wanted to win, and the referees officiated well."

Uncharacteristically of an All-Star game, there was only one dunk. Only a few minutes in to the third quarter, Tex McClinton (Bullis) lobbed a pass to Alexander Zurn (St. Andrew's), who slammed it down for the private squad. On the following possession for Public, Nash Oh (Walter Johnson) faked out multiple defenders with a behind-the-back pass to Myles Petretti (Northwest), who made the jumper to make the score 65-52 Public. Oh led all players with 10 assists.

"It definitely made my job a lot easier being able to play with the top talent in the county," Oh said. "I was confident that my teammates could catch and finish my passes and made it a lot of fun for me to play with such good players."

Oh was able to find Walter Johnson teammate Carl Yaffe regularly, a main reason for Yaffe's 11 points.

"Me and Carl have been playing together since we were freshmen," Oh said. "So we've gotten to know our tendencies and our strengths. He knows where and when I'm gonna give him the ball and I know that he'll be open under the basket or at the three point line when I penetrate. We both read each other very well."

Zurn helped spur a 8-0 Private rally in the first minute of the fourth quarter to bring the game within two points, 80-78 Public. Zurn scored 11 of his 14 points in the final period, helping to keep the game close.

"I think I was able to do that because I was playing with some of the best private school players in county," he said. "And they gave me some good shots and they weren't hesitant to give me the ball and let me play my game. Throughout the game I felt like we were just as good, if not better than the other team. And I personally felt like if I crashed the boards I could get a lot of boards because of my jumping ability. My thought process was "take over right now" and I tried, we just came up short as team though."

Zurn said the atmosphere for the game was far different than those at St. Andrew's. Next year he will be playing at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania.

"The fans played a big role for me," he said. "Coming from St. Andrew's, all of my games this year had nothing close to the amount of fans that were there [Tuesday night]. In terms of the players, I didn't feel any added pressure playing against them. It was fun for me."

Three Public stars, Jeremy Williams (Springbrook), Stephen Griffin (Paint Branch), and Fountain, entered the fourth quarter for the first time with 5:00 minutes left and the score 89-87 public. Travis Marcus (Wheaton), who replaced star Springbrook player Jamal Olasewere on the Public roster, drilled a three on the next possession, and Williams hit a three-pointer well beyond NBA range 20 seconds later to make the score 95-87 Public.

"Well, I believe that I can shoot the ball well," Williams said. "And I knew that we needed a big play so I decided that I need to make that shot. It felt really good when the ball went in from that distance it really helped us. [This game was] very different, playing with a whole bunch of county stars, you can always learn something."

Olasewere did not play in the game because he is already signed up for two other All-Star games in the area. The power forward, who is being courted by Georgetown University, was honored by friends Griffin and Williams, who decided to wear their shorts up well past their waists in the second half.

"It was a good atmosphere, a lot of people came to the game," Griffin said. "So we just wanted to put on a show and have fun and show who's really the best in Montgomery County. Second half was the old school half, me and my friend Jeremy Williams decided to pull our shorts up for Jamal Olasewere. That's our man, and he doesn't like it when we wear small shorts, so we pulled them up for him."

Zurn made the game close again with 3 minutes left. Driving into the lane, Zurn was fouled by Ed Hall (Paint Branch), and while falling down, tossed up a shot that fell through the hoop. Zurn made the free throw, and the score was 97-94 Public. Private could never make it closer than that, however, as Public was able to make clutch free throws late in the game to pull it out.

Hall might have been assigned the most difficult task of the game - guarding 6'11" Julius Francis (Good Counsel), a recruit of Southern Methodist University. While Francis scored 22 points, Hall was able to force him farther away from the paint and limit his rebounding opportunities. In fact, the 6'6" Hall outrebounded Francis 8-7.

"Well, I was just trying to keep him from scoring, because he was scoring with ease again most of our other players," Hall said. "To keep him from scoring, you've got to play defense and finish it off with a rebound so he doesn't get any second chance points."

Griffin was perhaps the most impressive player on either team. Showing great court vision and lightning-fast ball handling skills, the Paint Branch point guard scored eight points with nine assists, even while sitting out for a large portion of the second half. Griffin says he has received interest from Tulsa University, Old Dominion University, and Coppin State University, among others.

VOLiSport's first annual MoCo All-Star Challenge was a great success, filling the arena at Richard Montgomery high school with enthusiastic fans. The game is a tradition that this reporter hopes will be continued for many years in the future.

[papawasamustang]

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/chase ... IDURVSPR01

Here's some video from the game. It includes a base line jumper from J O, a weak defensive play by J O & an interview (very soft spoken).
There are also a couple of other clips big #42 is involved in.

[PonyDoh]

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/chase-hicks-layup-over-julius-francis-assist-nash-oh/2305843010675396361/?icid=VIDURVSPR01

Here's some video from the game. It includes a base line jumper from J O, a weak defensive play by J O & an interview (very soft spoken).
There are also a couple of other clips big #42 is involved in.

Offensively, he's certainly farther along then Bamba at the same stage, so that's a plus. He's also more then a stick figure, so we've got that going for us. Yo Doh, more impact players plz!