He is the quiet type, but then, he’s talented enough to make some noise without opening his mouth.
In 10 of Notre Dame’s first 15 games, freshman forward Torin Francis has led the team in rebounding. He led the Irish in scoring against Maryland and Texas.
Even while keeping his voice down, Francis had been setting the rhythm on the basketball court, averaging almost 11 points and 10 rebounds per game.
Then the Big East season hit. And Francis, a 6-foot-10-inch, 240-pound hulk who has started every game this season, was unable to hit back.
In his conference debut Jan. 6 at Pittsburgh, Francis was pushed around in the post like a swizzle stick. Pitt center Orlando Lett, a 265-pound senior, had his way with Francis, holding him to six points and seven rebounds.
“You saw,” Francis said after the game. “I just had to keep my ground.
“When they went on a run, I just kind of disappeared.”
Francis did better Sunday against a less physically imposing Seton Hall team, putting up 10 points with seven rebounds. He’ll look to build on that performance Tuesday night when the 10th-ranked Irish (13-2, 1-1 Big East) entertain West Division rival Rutgers (8-5, 0-1).
“After a loss, he kind of focused and concentrated,” Irish coach Mike Brey said of his prize freshman, who resembles a young Shawn Kemp. “I think it was important for him to have a good afternoon to feel good about himself in a league game.”
But if Notre Dame is to contend in the always rugged Big East and secure a third straight NCAA tournament bid, much of the burden will fall to Francis. He’s the lone stout body, the only inside presence, on a team of drivers and jump shooters, and he has to hold his own in the post against the likes of Lett, Georgetown’s 260-pound Mike Sweetney and Connecticut’s 240-pound Emeka Okafor.
The Irish seem able to score at will–four of their five starters average in double figures, led by Matt Carroll’s 20 points per game. But they have had a hard time replacing the interior presence of graduated forwards Ryan Humphrey and Harold Swanagan. Humphrey collected a team-high 87 blocks and averaged 11 rebounds a game last season, while Swanagan’s impact was more noticeable in the screens he set and the loose balls he dived for than in the box score.
And while Francis can’t fill that hole by himself, he at least has to hold the seams together.
“Torin is still learning how to be a screener, but I don’t want him screening, I want him catching it and hooking it and shooting it and looking to score,” Brey said. “It’s a lot to ask of him on the front line.”
But ask they have. And Francis has been responding, perhaps not as consistently as they would like, but he is, after all, still a freshman.
“Torin is a very proud young man,” Brey said. “He’s very hard on himself, and he’s been a very good student in learning about college basketball so far.”
Luckily for Francis, he has plenty of teachers in Notre Dame’s veteran-laden lineup.
“When you’re playing against [starting center] Tom Timmermans, Rick Cornett and Omari Peterkin, who weighs in the 250s . . . our practices are as physical as any Big East game,” Brey said.
Sophomore point guard Chris Thomas, who started every game in his freshman season and knows firsthand the pressure of outsized expectations, has also taken on the mantle of mentor for Francis.
Thomas said his recent struggles–he scored just eight points against Valparaiso and five against Pittsburgh before rebounding with a 22-point effort against Seton Hall–contributed to Francis’ on-court woes.
“I felt really bad because he looks to me as his man, as his mentor, to keep him going,” Thomas said. “Hopefully when I’m playing well that will trigger to him that we’re in it as a team.”
A team whose aspirations revolve around Francis’ play.
“There’s going to be a learning curve in league play, and we’ve got to keep coaching him,” Brey said. “I just want him moving forward.”
As long as he does that, Francis can maintain his economy of words. He’ll simply do his talking on the court.
Francis by the numbers
Freshman forward
Height: 6-10. Weight: 240
Home: Roslindale, Mass.
Per game averages
(Totals in parenthesis)
15: Games
27.1: Minutes (406)
10.7: Points (161)
.514: Field-goal pct. (57-of-111)
.653: Free-throw pct. (47-of-72)
9.3: Rebounds (140)
0.8: Assists (12)
2.1: Turnovers (32)
2.1: Personal fouls (32)
2.1: Blocks (32)
Rebounds, points per game
OPPONENT OFF DEF TOT PTS
Belmont 1 3 4 7
IUPUI 5 5 10 16
Bucknell 5 15 20 11
Furman 4 5 9 5
Creighton 2 0 2 0
Albany 5 10 15 15
Marquette 8 5 13 11
Maryland 3 5 8 20
Texas 3 7 10 21
DePaul 0 7 7 10
Canisius 2 5 7 6
Vanderbilt 3 8 11 11
Valparaiso 3 7 10 12
Pittsburgh 3 4 7 6
Seton Hall 4 3 7 10
TOTALS 51 89 140 161
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