First Discusses Torin Francis His Future

Torin Francis may be quiet on the court, but he lets his playing do the talking.

At the recent Slam Dunk to the Beach Tournament in Lewes, Del., Francis was terrific in three games for Tabor Academy of Marion, Mass.

Francis averaged 21.7 points and 11.7 rebounds in three contests as the Sea Wolves posted a 2-1 mark at the Slam Dunk.

Francis saved his best for last at the Slam Dunk, registering a triple double in a 59-49 win over Roger Bacon H.S. of Cincinnati, Ohio. In that game, Francis collected 30 points, 15 rebounds and 10 blocks, shooting an impressive 13 of 17 from the floor.

The Insiders Report/Rivalshoops.com caught up with Tabor Head Coach David First at the Slam Dunk, and conducted the following Q&A with him about Francis' present accomplishments and future at Notre Dame.

IR: Can you talk a little about Torin's progression this season? Obviously, he signed early with Notre Dame.

DF: He has been terrific. He's the kind of kid who gets better every day. That sounds very cliche, but it really is true for him. He's a leader on and off the floor. He's vice president of the senior class at school, and he's involved in all kinds of activities. From a basketball perspective, he's gotten so much more aggressive.

IR: Anything that he is working on this year?

DF: Outside shooting. He's working on his outside shot. He is working on his ball handling. Right now, if he can put the ball on the floor and quickly get to the basket, he's pretty good. When he needs to put the ball to the floor and go into a move, that's a weakness still.

IR: Is he happy that all of the recruiting stuff is behind him now?

DF: He's very happy and so am I. It's really nice to have it over with. I see it with some kids when they get it over with, they kind of rest. He's very hungry still to get better. It's great, perfect for him.

IR: Looking back on it, there are not any regrets about the decision or the process?

DF: We talk about it all of the time. I think that aside from the obvious Carolina's difficulties this year, and some other teams, too, the Notre Dame decision keeps getting better every time we look at it. That's not to say that some of the other decisions he could have made would not have been great decisions. They would have been, but the Notre Dame decision keeps looking better and better.

IR: How stressful was the whole recruiting process for you?

DF: It was very stressful, but I think the biggest stress was the pressure of wanting the kid to make the best decision. I was never going to tell him what to do, but the process gets so crazy that you get nervous about people influencing him in bad ways.

IR: Were the external influences that big of a distraction?

DF: It was kept pretty clean, but I felt like he had to be deprogrammed every once in a while. Like he had been a hostage. Fortunately, his mother did most of the deprogramming. In the end, when you look at the schools it came down to, there were not many bad decisions. There may not have been any bad decisions that he could have made. It became a matter of making the best decision.

IR: Was there anyone that finished a close second to Notre Dame?

DF: It's really hard to say. Ultimately, his mother really weighed in on the academic portion of it. And as good a school as Florida is academically, she really fell in love more with Virginia, Boston College and Notre Dame. I think that she pushed those three into to top three, but realistically, Florida was a very strong choice for him. There was not a second choice really. B.C., UVa and Florida was up there.

IR: In the first half of August, you and Torin went on a number of unofficial visits to many of the schools on his list. Was that very illuminating?

DF: It was definitely enlightening for us. I think it's something that everybody has to do. The tough thing about it is that we did it so quickly that I think back on it, that if we had visited B.C. or North Carolina last, did he choose Notre Dame in some small part because it came last? I guess it's not really true, because by the time he got to Notre Dame, he knew what he was looking for, and it was there. I think it was really important to sit down and connect with the coaches, because it becomes such a people decision. And as much as you tell kids not to make a decision solely on a coach, the coach might not be there, it is a personal decision -- you do go to play for somebody. It was such a great group of people that he got to meet. When you are talking about someone like Billy Donovan, who is so impressive. Mike Brey, who is fantastic and classy. Al Skinner, who does a good job. Matt Doherty, who gets after it. And Pete Gillen made a great presentation. Paul Hewitt -- they're all so impressive. They don't get to be there without being impressive. It was enlightening There were little vibes we got in each place that helped us out. Someone has a little negative vibe here or there that seemed to mean something. When you looked into it, sometimes it did.