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Aston Francis

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Aston Francis
Free agent
PositionPoint guard / shooting guard
Personal information
Born (1997-03-20) March 20, 1997 (age 27)
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight195 lb (88 kg)
Career information
High schoolAll Saints Episcopal
(Tyler, Texas)
College
NBA draft2019: undrafted
Playing career2020–present
Career history
2020–2021Mega Tbilisi
2021–2022Wisconsin Herd
2022Lakeland Magic
Career highlights and awards
  • Georgian A-League Player of the Year (2021)
  • Georgian A-League Finals MVP (2021)
  • Bevo Francis Award (2019)
  • 2× Second-team Division III All-American – NABC (2018, 2019)
  • 2× CCIW Most Outstanding Player (2018, 2019)
  • 3× First-team All-CCIW (2018, 2019)

Aston Francis (born March 20, 1997) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Lakeland Magic of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for three seasons at Wheaton College, where he won the Bevo Francis Award after averaging an NCAA-leading 34.3 points per game in his senior season. Francis previously played for Tyler Junior College.

Early life and high school career

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Francis began playing basketball at age four or five, as well as soccer and baseball. His father taught him about basketball. Francis played the sport for All Saints Episcopal School in Tyler, Texas, where his father was the athletic director and coach.[1] As a senior, he averaged 21.7 points per game, leading his team to the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools 4A title game. Francis was named Tyler Morning Telegraph Player of the Year and ETFinalScore.com All-East Texas Most Valuable Player.[2]

College career

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In his freshman season, Francis played for Tyler Junior College, averaging 4.5 points per game in limited playing time, before transferring to NCAA Division III program Wheaton College.[1][3] On January 12, 2017, he scored a sophomore season-high 39 points in a loss to Illinois Wesleyan, the ninth-most single-game points in program history.[4] As a sophomore, Francis led the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin with 23.4 points per game and made a school-record 94 three-pointers.[5] He was named to the first team All-CCIW.[6] On December 9, 2017, Francis scored a junior season-high 45 points in a double overtime win over Elmhurst, the fifth-highest single-game total in Wheaton history.[7] He finished the season averaging a program-record 27.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game, while breaking his own single-season program record with 121 three-pointers. Francis was named CCIW Most Outstanding Player and was named a second-team Division III All-American by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and D3hoops.com.[8]

As a senior, he led Wheaton to its first Final Four at the NCAA Division III Tournament. In the clinching game on March 9, 2019, Francis scored an NCAA tournament-record 62 points, including 12 three-pointers, to go with 12 rebounds in a win over Marietta.[9] He finished the tournament averaging 44.8 points per game, setting a new record. In his senior season, he averaged 34.3 points per game, which led all NCAA divisions, and scored a Division III-record 1,096 points while sporting a crew cut. Additionally, Francis was the Division III leader in three-pointers, field goals and free throws. He averaged a team-high 7.9 rebounds and ranked second on his team with 3.1 assists per game. Francis was honored with the Bevo Francis Award and was named D3hoops.com Player of the Year. He was a first-team All-American by D3hoops.com and a second-team Division III All-American by NABC. Francis won CCIW Most Outstanding Player for his second straight season. He left Wheaton with the second-most points in program history and as its all-time leader in three-pointers.[10]

Professional career

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Francis joined Mega Tbilisi in Georgia on December 23, 2020.[11] He scored 23 points in a 96–86 defeat of Kavkasia, as Mega secured a sweep for the Georgian A-Liga Championship in his first season.[12] Francis was named to the League 1st Team, and won honors for Player of the Year and Finals MVP.[13]

On December 25, 2021, Francis joined the Wisconsin Herd, the NBA G League affiliate for 2021 NBA reigning champions Milwaukee Bucks.[14] Francis was then later waived on January 19, 2022.[15]

On January 25, Francis was acquired by the Lakeland Magic, making his debut that evening for the team. He was then later waived on January 29, 2022.[16]

References

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  1. ^ a b Franke, Maggie (February 7, 2019). "Athlete Spotlight: Aston Francis". The Wheaton Record. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
  2. ^ Yoesting, Travis (May 9, 2015). "All-ET Hoops: All Saints' Francis best in area". Tyler Morning Telegraph. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
  3. ^ Ford, Nathan (March 7, 2019). "Here's the point: Aston Francis is amazing". D3hoops.com. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
  4. ^ "Thunder blunder through Las Vegas". The Wheaton Record. January 12, 2017. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
  5. ^ Schwarz, Orrin (January 24, 2018). "Francis burning up Wheaton College nets". Daily Herald. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
  6. ^ "2017 CCIW All-Conference Men's Basketball Team". College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. February 22, 2017. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
  7. ^ Hicks, Phil (December 19, 2017). "Current, former All Saints basketball players thrive". Tyler Morning Telegraph. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
  8. ^ "Thunder guard Aston Francis named a 2017-18 Second Team All-American by D3hoops.com". Wheaton College. March 17, 2018. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
  9. ^ "Francis punches Thunder's ticket with 62". D3hoops.com. March 9, 2019. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
  10. ^ "DIII men's basketball: Wheaton's Aston Francis wins the 2019 Bevo Francis Award". NCAA. April 9, 2019. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
  11. ^ Hicks, Phil (December 23, 2020). "Tyler's Aston Francis heading overseas for basketball". TylerPaper.com. Archived from the original on January 1, 2021. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  12. ^ "Mega Celebrate A-League Title". Eurobasket.com. April 25, 2021. Archived from the original on April 10, 2022. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  13. ^ "All-Georgian-A-League-Awards-2021 Eurobasket News". Eurobasket.com. April 29, 2021. Archived from the original on April 10, 2022. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  14. ^ "Roster – Wisconsin Herd". wisconsin.gleague.nba.com. Retrieved 2022-01-01.
  15. ^ "2021–22 NBA G League Transactions". gleague.nba.com. January 19, 2022. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
  16. ^ "2021–22 NBA G League Transactions". gleague.nba.com. January 29, 2022. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
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