If you thought Armaan Franklin looked like a different player in Virginia’s 73-61 season-opening win over North Carolina Central on Monday, it’s because he was.
The senior had a game-high 21 points on 5-of-9 shooting, 4-of-7 from three, and he got to the line with regularity because of his aggressiveness in getting the ball into the lane and to the rim.
Franklin had struggled through much of his first year at UVA before putting together a nice closing stretch after working to correct for a mechanical flaw in his jumper.
In his final three games, Franklin connected on 12-of-23 from three-point range after spending the bulk of the season in the low- to mid-20s in three-point shooting percentage.
The difference: “I’m a lot more comfortable. I’m more comfortable with my teammates, coaches, and with Charlottesville in general. I feel like I’m just more confident in myself, and it shows from all the work I put in this summer. It benefits me a lot to be so much more comfortable on the court this year,” said Franklin, who worked with UVA Basketball alum Justin Anderson (’15) over the summer on his game and his jump-shooting.
“Justin Anderson came here last year for a football game and asked the coaches if he could do anything for the team. The coaches led him to me, and we built a relationship from there,” Franklin said. “I had some time off when we went home for the summer, and he invited me to go to Florida to work out with him. It was really beneficial. I was only there for a week, but it was a fun time and getting to see the little parts of the game, and practicing with NBA players was really good.”
Virginia is a different team offensively when Franklin is on his game. His ability to stretch defenses as a spot-up shooter creates driving lanes for point guards Reece Beekman and Kihei Clark, and Franklin’s ability to create space on the perimeter and in the lane makes him a go-to guy in late-shot-clock situations.
The Cavaliers built off his hot start – Franklin hit a pair of threes in the opening four minutes Monday night, propelling an early 11-2 run – on its way to an 11-of-25 effort from long-range.
“It feels good seeing shots go down, but we know that we want to be more consistent,” Franklin said. “We had games last year where we’d shoot it well, and games where we didn’t, so building that consistency from deep is going to be really important.”
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Chris Graham
