C-LeB28
Moderator
Francis turning around Prairie View basketball
By MEGAN MANFULL
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle
PRAIRIE VIEW -- Jerome Francis Jr. stood at center court, bent at the waist and with his clinched fists out in front of him. His eyes were closed and his upper body shook.
"Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!" he shouted as he started pacing the basketball court and clapping again. "Back to first place!"
Practice had barely started, and the Prairie View A&M coach was already sweating. While the Panthers players stretched, Francis paced between them and shouted everything he thought might motivate his team.
The players didn't even look at their ranting coach, but they listened. They heard every word -- just as they have ever since Francis, a former Houston assistant, took over the program last spring.
Now, Francis' intensity, which initially intimidated some players, has united the entire university and instilled pride into an athletic department where losing had become expected. The Panthers are off to a 6-1 record in the , Southwestern Athletic Conference, the team's best in more than three decades.
"I saw a sign the other day that said `Francis for President,' " he said. "I'm trying to be as humble as I can but I grin and I smile. I've never tried to be a prima donna-type attitude. But it does feel good to be wanted. It does feel good to be appreciated as far as your work goes."
When the former Ohio State Buckeye was hired, no coach in the Prairie View athletic department owned an overall winning record. The basketball team he inherited won only 26 percent of its games since 1998 when scholarships were reinstated. Prior to that, the losses were even greater.
It was Francis' coaching philosophy and desire to break that trend that convinced athletic director Charles McClelland to take a chance on the long-time assistant coach.
"Our history and tradition has been so rich, but for the last 40 years we've been stagnated athletically," said McClelland, a Prairie View alum. "I was tired of being associated with a negative connotation because of our athletic programs.
"We have great academic and athletic traditions, but to go out and say you are from Prairie View and for that to be associated with negativity of your football and basketball teams, it was somewhat personal for me to come in and do anything I could to try to turn the program around."
No one in the administration thought one man could do so much to change a long-standing image. But in only a few months, Francis has done the seemingly impossible.
Alumni have started chartering buses from Beaumont and Dallas to attend the games. Sponsorships have increased 300 percent. And attendance has tripled at the Baby Dome, with average crowds exceeding 4,000 spectators.
"I can remember walking around last year and you'd see somebody on campus and put your head down," said senior point guard Gregory Burks, decked out in purple Prairie View sweats and a purple team T-shirt. "You really didn't want to see them, because they knew how the season was going. But this year is different. I know I've worn my T-shirt maybe two times the same day."
Despite the drastic and sudden turnaround, there was a transition period between Francis and the players. Over the summer, he started by instilling discipline and teaching the game's basic techniques.
Francis, 35, was an in-your-face coach from the get-go, demanding eye contact and silence. When he yelled, the players were expected to look and listen. That's all he asked.
Some players struggled with the drastic new coaching style.
"He'd yell and then players would say things while he was talking," said junior Roderick Riley, who considered transferring. "He's very big on that when he's yelling he wants your full attention. He wants to see your eyes. He wants full eye contact.
"It took me, I'll be honest with you, the whole summer to adjust. He worked with me all summer to change my attitude. He broke me after the summer, and that's when everything started looking good for me."
Francis used to worry how perspective employers would react to his aggressive coaching style. He worried it would hurt his chances for head coaching jobs after more than 10 years as an assistant basketball coach.
But Prairie View embraced him after the first home game. His charismatic personality lit up the Baby Dome.
"Coach Francis has breathed life into a program that had very little life," said McClelland. "He's probably the most passionate, aggressive person that I have ever met.
"When coach Francis is coaching, it's as if he's out there on the floor. ... He does a lot of jumping and stomping. And that's something that we needed around here."
Francis knows no other way to coach. He gets so worked up before games, he doesn't even talk to his team until minutes before tip-off.
He even works out for two hours before the game to try to release some of his energy. His game-day energy still exceeds even that in practice, which shocked players when they gathered in the Houston locker room for the first game of the season.
"We were in the locker room, and I always listen to my music and read My Daily Bread before the games, but he just came storming in, 'Are you ready to play? Are you ready to play,' " said Burks in his best imitation of Francis' raspy voice. "He was stomping and whooping and hollering. And man, he really got me going."
The team won their season opener against Francis' former boss Ray McCallum, but then continued with a difficult non-conference schedule. The losses mounted as they played only one game at home in a month and a half.
By the fourth of seven straight losses, Francis shocked his players with his post-game reaction. The returners had spent years losing. They found it contagious. But Francis was still immune to accepting defeats.
"We lost to Arkansas-Little Rock and Coach Francis came in and it was the first time we ever saw him cry," Riley said. "He wanted us to win so bad and to play hard at all times for him. And that right there, broke everybody down. And it let everybody know that we were serious."
As soon as the conference season began, the fun started as the team jumped out to a 5-0 record before suffering their first defeat last week to Mississippi Valley State. Despite being picked to finish second to last in the preseason SWAC poll, the Panthers will try to regain a share of first place when they play Alabama State, who is 7-0 in the SWAC, Saturday night at the Baby Dome.
While McClelland's preseason goal was for the Panthers to finish in fourth place, he has adjusted his thinking. A championship doesn't sound so unattainable.
The biggest challenge McClelland sees is keeping Francis trolling their sidelines. Even though Francis signed a four-year contract worth $79,000 a year and littered with incentives, McClelland already plans to tweak it in the off-season.
"I know my most difficult task is keeping coach Francis here for as long as we can possibly have him," McClelland said. "But at the same time, when I talked to coach Francis I told him I wanted someone with ambitions. I wanted someone who wanted to go that next level. There are higher levels than Prairie View.
"His contract is for four years, though, and he promised me four years. So I'm going to hold him to it."
By MEGAN MANFULL
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle
PRAIRIE VIEW -- Jerome Francis Jr. stood at center court, bent at the waist and with his clinched fists out in front of him. His eyes were closed and his upper body shook.
"Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!" he shouted as he started pacing the basketball court and clapping again. "Back to first place!"
Practice had barely started, and the Prairie View A&M coach was already sweating. While the Panthers players stretched, Francis paced between them and shouted everything he thought might motivate his team.
The players didn't even look at their ranting coach, but they listened. They heard every word -- just as they have ever since Francis, a former Houston assistant, took over the program last spring.
Now, Francis' intensity, which initially intimidated some players, has united the entire university and instilled pride into an athletic department where losing had become expected. The Panthers are off to a 6-1 record in the , Southwestern Athletic Conference, the team's best in more than three decades.
"I saw a sign the other day that said `Francis for President,' " he said. "I'm trying to be as humble as I can but I grin and I smile. I've never tried to be a prima donna-type attitude. But it does feel good to be wanted. It does feel good to be appreciated as far as your work goes."
When the former Ohio State Buckeye was hired, no coach in the Prairie View athletic department owned an overall winning record. The basketball team he inherited won only 26 percent of its games since 1998 when scholarships were reinstated. Prior to that, the losses were even greater.
It was Francis' coaching philosophy and desire to break that trend that convinced athletic director Charles McClelland to take a chance on the long-time assistant coach.
"Our history and tradition has been so rich, but for the last 40 years we've been stagnated athletically," said McClelland, a Prairie View alum. "I was tired of being associated with a negative connotation because of our athletic programs.
"We have great academic and athletic traditions, but to go out and say you are from Prairie View and for that to be associated with negativity of your football and basketball teams, it was somewhat personal for me to come in and do anything I could to try to turn the program around."
No one in the administration thought one man could do so much to change a long-standing image. But in only a few months, Francis has done the seemingly impossible.
Alumni have started chartering buses from Beaumont and Dallas to attend the games. Sponsorships have increased 300 percent. And attendance has tripled at the Baby Dome, with average crowds exceeding 4,000 spectators.
"I can remember walking around last year and you'd see somebody on campus and put your head down," said senior point guard Gregory Burks, decked out in purple Prairie View sweats and a purple team T-shirt. "You really didn't want to see them, because they knew how the season was going. But this year is different. I know I've worn my T-shirt maybe two times the same day."
Despite the drastic and sudden turnaround, there was a transition period between Francis and the players. Over the summer, he started by instilling discipline and teaching the game's basic techniques.
Francis, 35, was an in-your-face coach from the get-go, demanding eye contact and silence. When he yelled, the players were expected to look and listen. That's all he asked.
Some players struggled with the drastic new coaching style.
"He'd yell and then players would say things while he was talking," said junior Roderick Riley, who considered transferring. "He's very big on that when he's yelling he wants your full attention. He wants to see your eyes. He wants full eye contact.
"It took me, I'll be honest with you, the whole summer to adjust. He worked with me all summer to change my attitude. He broke me after the summer, and that's when everything started looking good for me."
Francis used to worry how perspective employers would react to his aggressive coaching style. He worried it would hurt his chances for head coaching jobs after more than 10 years as an assistant basketball coach.
But Prairie View embraced him after the first home game. His charismatic personality lit up the Baby Dome.
"Coach Francis has breathed life into a program that had very little life," said McClelland. "He's probably the most passionate, aggressive person that I have ever met.
"When coach Francis is coaching, it's as if he's out there on the floor. ... He does a lot of jumping and stomping. And that's something that we needed around here."
Francis knows no other way to coach. He gets so worked up before games, he doesn't even talk to his team until minutes before tip-off.
He even works out for two hours before the game to try to release some of his energy. His game-day energy still exceeds even that in practice, which shocked players when they gathered in the Houston locker room for the first game of the season.
"We were in the locker room, and I always listen to my music and read My Daily Bread before the games, but he just came storming in, 'Are you ready to play? Are you ready to play,' " said Burks in his best imitation of Francis' raspy voice. "He was stomping and whooping and hollering. And man, he really got me going."
The team won their season opener against Francis' former boss Ray McCallum, but then continued with a difficult non-conference schedule. The losses mounted as they played only one game at home in a month and a half.
By the fourth of seven straight losses, Francis shocked his players with his post-game reaction. The returners had spent years losing. They found it contagious. But Francis was still immune to accepting defeats.
"We lost to Arkansas-Little Rock and Coach Francis came in and it was the first time we ever saw him cry," Riley said. "He wanted us to win so bad and to play hard at all times for him. And that right there, broke everybody down. And it let everybody know that we were serious."
As soon as the conference season began, the fun started as the team jumped out to a 5-0 record before suffering their first defeat last week to Mississippi Valley State. Despite being picked to finish second to last in the preseason SWAC poll, the Panthers will try to regain a share of first place when they play Alabama State, who is 7-0 in the SWAC, Saturday night at the Baby Dome.
While McClelland's preseason goal was for the Panthers to finish in fourth place, he has adjusted his thinking. A championship doesn't sound so unattainable.
The biggest challenge McClelland sees is keeping Francis trolling their sidelines. Even though Francis signed a four-year contract worth $79,000 a year and littered with incentives, McClelland already plans to tweak it in the off-season.
"I know my most difficult task is keeping coach Francis here for as long as we can possibly have him," McClelland said. "But at the same time, when I talked to coach Francis I told him I wanted someone with ambitions. I wanted someone who wanted to go that next level. There are higher levels than Prairie View.
"His contract is for four years, though, and he promised me four years. So I'm going to hold him to it."
