MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Titan Q]

Aston Francis has won the prestigious Jostens Trophy. 

Quite an honor.

https://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2019/03/francis-temple-win-jostens-trophy

[duckfan41]

I don't think there are many qualms about the two Josten's Trophy winners this year.

https://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2019/03/francis-temple-win-jostens-trophy

Huge congratulations to Madison Temple from Thomas More and of course Aston Francis from Wheaton. I actually got to watch Ms. Temple play against Wheaton the first game of the season in King Arena and she absolutely tore us apart. She is a fantastic basketball player and was super fun to watch.

Regarding Aston, I watched every Wheaton men's game this year and there are basically no players who surprise me when they miss a turnaround fade-away three pointer from the wing or the corner, but Aston is one of them. I saw someone on twitter call D3 basketball as a whole out because of how good Aston is, as a slight to its inferiority to D1. However, Aston has a rare work ethic that most D1 guys don't even have. The fact that he went to the practice gym after the Augie game and didn't leave until he made 100 of the shot he had just missed is a testament to how hard he works and how much he wants to win basketball games. You certainly don't luck into averaging 33.9 points per game. It's been awesome getting to see Aston dress in the orange and blue these last 3 years and here's to hoping he has two games of magic left in the tank.

[GoPerry]

Aston Francis has won the prestigious Jostens Trophy. 

Quite an honor.

https://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2019/03/francis-temple-win-jostens-trophy

Congratulations to Aston Francis on this very nice honor.  Obviously accomplished in more ways than just on the basketball court.  His Hoopsville interview with Dave also portrayed a young man confident in his ability but also with the appropriate humility to credit and thank others who are critical to his own success.  He also gave a nice shout out to TitanQ!  ( like Francis, do WC posters have to address him as Mr Quillman from now on? )

[UWPSUPERFAN77]

Go Perry: The weather was crap on Saturday. I thought of driving up and was shut down by my spouse. That is why the Crowed at Auggie was so bad! Sorry I called Ryan Scott a Wheaton fan! As to Fridays game,who guards  Francis for UWO? I vote for Duax!

[Greek Tragedy]

Pretty awesome highlight video of Francis' 62. Hope to see more of that on Friday (sorry Oshkosh) and Saturday.

[Titan Q]

Congratulations to Aston Francis on this very nice honor.  Obviously accomplished in more ways than just on the basketball court.  His Hoopsville interview with Dave also portrayed a young man confident in his ability but also with the appropriate humility to credit and thank others who are critical to his own success.  He also gave a nice shout out to TitanQ!  ( like Francis, do WC posters have to address him as Mr Quillman from now on? )

I told him when you go for 62 and 12 you can call me absolutely anything you want.

The rest of you can call me Bob, or Q...until you put 62 & 12 up.

[Gregory Sager]

Regarding Aston, I watched every Wheaton men's game this year and there are basically no players who surprise me when they miss a turnaround fade-away three pointer from the wing or the corner, but Aston is one of them. I saw someone on twitter call D3 basketball as a whole out because of how good Aston is, as a slight to its inferiority to D1. However, Aston has a rare work ethic that most D1 guys don't even have. The fact that he went to the practice gym after the Augie game and didn't leave until he made 100 of the shot he had just missed is a testament to how hard he works and how much he wants to win basketball games. You certainly don't luck into averaging 33.9 points per game.

What really opened my eyes to the whole Aston Francis narrative was going back and looking at his freshman season at Tyler Junior College. Again, for those of you who missed the post I made about my discovery earlier this season, Aston Francis was not some sort of teenaged basketball superstar who just happened to land at Wheaton after setting the world on fire at the juco level. Yes, Mike Schauer saw him in high school and tried to recruit him then, but he wasn't down in Texas to look at Aston Francis; he was down there to look at Trevor Gunter and stumbled upon Aston Francis by accident. But the biggest surprise is just how ordinary and easily-overlooked Francis was at TJC. He did not start for the Apaches; he came off the bench. His shooting slash was a very modest .360/.333/.750. And he averaged 4.5 ppg and 0.8 rpg, which seems astonishing when you realize that he averaged 23.9 ppg as a sophomore at Wheaton with a shooting slash of .458/.388/.781, and has had an upward offensive trajectory over his junior and senior seasons.

It's all well and good for Mike Schauer to call Aston Francis the hardest-working player he's ever seen, but the numbers he posted at TJC put into stark relief just how hard he worked to become the hardest-working player that Mike Schauer has ever seen. It fleshes out his narrative in the same way that knowing that Michael Jordan got cut from the tryout for his high school's sophomore team makes you understand what drove him to become the greatest player who ever laced up sneakers. Yes, Aston Francis is a gifted athlete, but we all know that even the D3 level is replete with gifted athletes. What sets him apart isn't mere work ethic; it's an approach to making himself a better player that has been both maniacal and methodical. I don't get the impression that he's wasted any energy in applying himself to be better. That whole I'm-going-to-perfect-the-shot-that-I-missed-against-Augie story and the fact that he spent a summer studying videos of players like Larry Bird and Steph Curry in order to break down their techniques and incorporate them into his game indicates that he harnesses his amazing drive to specific on-court purposes. And that also explains why various phases of his game have improved over the past three years. It's one thing to be driven; it's another thing to be smart about it.

But the biggest part of the story, of course, is the whole aspect of a nondescript juco benchwarmer becoming the most sensational D3 player in recent memory. Within the ordinary lies the seed of the extraordinary. I wonder how many other D3 players who have played against him have taken this to heart and have looked at Aston Francis as a role model who will inspire them to put down the Xbox and click on YouTube videos of great players of yesteryear with the intent to study their moves or their technique, or to put in extra hours in the gym and the weight room even above and beyond what they're already doing.

It's been awesome getting to see Aston dress in the orange and blue these last 3 years and here's to hoping he has two games of magic left in the tank.

I make no bones about the fact that I'm an Aston Francis fan, which is a very weird and uncomfortable feeling for me as a North Parker. (I had the same unpleasant "you shouldn't be a fan of this guy" sense a decade and a half ago when the CCIW player I respected the most was Wheaton center Joel Kolmodin.) I try to reconcile myself to this by remembering that one notable occasion in which Aston Francis missed the big shot at the very end of a one-possession game was in the crackerbox against NPU this past December ... and that I felt perfectly fine watching that shot clang off of the front of the rim.

[lmitzel]

It's been awesome getting to see Aston dress in the orange and blue these last 3 years and here's to hoping he has two games of magic left in the tank.

I make no bones about the fact that I'm an Aston Francis fan, which is a very weird and uncomfortable feeling for me as a North Parker. (I had the same unpleasant "you shouldn't be a fan of this guy" sense a decade and a half ago when the CCIW player I respected the most was Wheaton center Joel Kolmodin.) I try to reconcile myself to this by remembering that one notable occasion in which Aston Francis missed the big shot at the very end of a one-possession game was in the crackerbox against NPU this past December ... and that I felt perfectly fine watching that shot clang off of the front of the rim.

I have kind of a similar feeling to Greg. I think I remember hearing a little hype around Francis the first time I saw him... and then Aiden Chang shut him down for 40 minutes. Of course the hype only grew from then to the last time I saw him, but up until about five weeks ago I could play the "Yeah, but he's never beaten North Central" card... and then he proceeded to do Aston Francis things and help lead the Thunder to their first win over NCC in years. All I could do was exchange a stare with a buddy postgame, and later go shake Francis' hand and compliment the clinic he'd put on.

At this point, as much as I hate to say it, I'm kind of pulling for Wheaton. I was happy they got in the tournament since they deserved to, but to see what they've done the last two weeks has been amazing.

It's one of those things where I'm glad I got to experience a once-in-a-generation player; the kind of thing you tell your kids about. My son came to the last Wheaton game at the hangar, and was kind of cheering along as Francis set the tone early (there's video after his fourth or so three with my son cheering and my dad telling him, "Wrong team.") In his defense, he turns two next week, but that means he won't remember getting to see him.

The YouTube highlights and what have you are great... but it doesn't compare to getting to experience it live and in real time.

...If you told me ten years ago (heck, even five) I'd be waxing poetic about a Wheaton men's basketball player one day...

[iwu70]

Congrats to Aston Francis on Josten.  Super.

'70

[bbfan44]

The Christopher Newport website indicates a meeting place for fans of the four schools.  For Wheaton, they suggest Acme Bar and Grill at 1105 E State Blvd which is about 2 miles from the game. 

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

The Christopher Newport website indicates a meeting place for fans of the four schools.  For Wheaton, they suggest Acme Bar and Grill at 1105 E State Blvd which is about 2 miles from the game.

I saw that on the ft wayne website, too.  All the bars/restaurants are several miles from downtown and three of them are also several miles from the collesium.  Whoever got the one across the street is probably loving it.

[TitansIWU]

Regarding Aston, I watched every Wheaton men's game this year and there are basically no players who surprise me when they miss a turnaround fade-away three pointer from the wing or the corner, but Aston is one of them. I saw someone on twitter call D3 basketball as a whole out because of how good Aston is, as a slight to its inferiority to D1. However, Aston has a rare work ethic that most D1 guys don't even have. The fact that he went to the practice gym after the Augie game and didn't leave until he made 100 of the shot he had just missed is a testament to how hard he works and how much he wants to win basketball games. You certainly don't luck into averaging 33.9 points per game.

What really opened my eyes to the whole Aston Francis narrative was going back and looking at his freshman season at Tyler Junior College. Again, for those of you who missed the post I made about my discovery earlier this season, Aston Francis was not some sort of teenaged basketball superstar who just happened to land at Wheaton after setting the world on fire at the juco level. Yes, Mike Schauer saw him in high school and tried to recruit him then, but he wasn't down in Texas to look at Aston Francis; he was down there to look at Trevor Gunter and stumbled upon Aston Francis by accident. But the biggest surprise is just how ordinary and easily-overlooked Francis was at TJC. He did not start for the Apaches; he came off the bench. His shooting slash was a very modest .360/.333/.750. And he averaged 4.5 ppg and 0.8 rpg, which seems astonishing when you realize that he averaged 23.9 ppg as a sophomore at Wheaton with a shooting slash of .458/.388/.781, and has had an upward offensive trajectory over his junior and senior seasons.

It's all well and good for Mike Schauer to call Aston Francis the hardest-working player he's ever seen, but the numbers he posted at TJC put into stark relief just how hard he worked to become the hardest-working player that Mike Schauer has ever seen. It fleshes out his narrative in the same way that knowing that Michael Jordan got cut from the tryout for his high school's sophomore team makes you understand what drove him to become the greatest player who ever laced up sneakers. Yes, Aston Francis is a gifted athlete, but we all know that even the D3 level is replete with gifted athletes. What sets him apart isn't mere work ethic; it's an approach to making himself a better player that has been both maniacal and methodical. I don't get the impression that he's wasted any energy in applying himself to be better. That whole I'm-going-to-perfect-the-shot-that-I-missed-against-Augie story and the fact that he spent a summer studying videos of players like Larry Bird and Steph Curry in order to break down their techniques and incorporate them into his game indicates that he harnesses his amazing drive to specific on-court purposes. And that also explains why various phases of his game have improved over the past three years. It's one thing to be driven; it's another thing to be smart about it.

But the biggest part of the story, of course, is the whole aspect of a nondescript juco benchwarmer becoming the most sensational D3 player in recent memory. Within the ordinary lies the seed of the extraordinary. I wonder how many other D3 players who have played against him have taken this to heart and have looked at Aston Francis as a role model who will inspire them to put down the Xbox and click on YouTube videos of great players of yesteryear with the intent to study their moves or their technique, or to put in extra hours in the gym and the weight room even above and beyond what they're already doing.

It's been awesome getting to see Aston dress in the orange and blue these last 3 years and here's to hoping he has two games of magic left in the tank.

I make no bones about the fact that I'm an Aston Francis fan, which is a very weird and uncomfortable feeling for me as a North Parker. (I had the same unpleasant "you shouldn't be a fan of this guy" sense a decade and a half ago when the CCIW player I respected the most was Wheaton center Joel Kolmodin.) I try to reconcile myself to this by remembering that one notable occasion in which Aston Francis missed the big shot at the very end of a one-possession game was in the crackerbox against NPU this past December ... and that I felt perfectly fine watching that shot clang off of the front of the rim.

Nice post. I didn't know much about Aston Francis.

The other thing to consider about this young man is that sometimes you hear stories of kids not playing or playing mediocre minutes and they decide to leave their teams... what if they buckled down like this? They may not become this kind of player, but they may!

Wow. Inspiring on several levels.

[UWPSUPERFAN77]

Thank you for the updates all you guys! Any thoughts on how UWO will defend Francis?

[Titan Q]

NABC all-district teams...

http://nabc.com/nabc_releases/2019/diii_all_district


They do not have Aston Francis as Central player of the year? Did they bold the wrong name?

The way NABC makes their All-American team (player of the year from each district is on the 1st team), this would mean their 1st team All-America won't have Aston Francis?

[Pat Coleman]

That is the implication. Pretty surprising.