Texas forward pulls the trigger

Blinn College opens its season in just more than two weeks when it hosts Kingwood College on November 3rd. Chris Francois wanted to go ahead and get the recruiting process over with before the season began.

Francois recently gave his oral commitment to Birmingham Southern.

“I first took a visit to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and met the coach and the teachers and all that,” Francois said. “I matched them up to the ones at Birmingham Southern and just about everything was a lot better [at Southern]. I really like playing with the team at Birmingham Southern, I really like the way they play.”

In Francois, Southern is getting a guy that can play at the three or the four spot. He is 6-foot-6 and can play inside or outside. Francois played the post in high school his senior season, but says he can shoot well for a player at his position.

“I'm a good three-and-a-half,” Francois said. “I can play either position.”

Last season, Francois averaged 12.4 points and 4.7 rebounds for Blinn.

“He's a good spot-up four man. He can shoot the ball and he's athletic,” said Blinn head coach Steve Spurlin. “He's got to have a good year if we're going to have a good year. We're going to rely on him a whole, whole lot. We need points, rebounds, everything from him.”

Francois isn't alone at Blinn. Point guard Maurice Barksdale is also being recruiting by some Division One schools. Arkansas State, BYU, Centenary and Louisiana-Lafayette are among the schools Spurlin mentioned as showing interest in Barksdale. JuCoJunction will keep in touch with the Blinn duo and keep you updated on both players.