News
Wright Wins RMAC Offensive Player of the Week
After a pair of 20-plus point performances to close out the regular season, Chadron State guard Zy Wright has taken home the final RMAC Offensive Player of the Week award of the 2024-25 season.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – After a pair of 20-plus point performances to close out the regular season, Chadron State guard Zy Wright has taken home the final RMAC Offensive Player of the Week award of the 2024-25 season.
Wright averaged 24.5 points, seven rebounds and three steals per game and shot better than 50 percent from the field as the Eagles went 2-0 to clinch the final spot in the RMAC Men's Basketball Tournament.
Against Fort Lewis last Thursday, Wright poured in 28 points, his second-highest scoring output of the season. The senior shot 8-16 from the field and went 10-for-11 from the free-throw line, adding eight rebounds and two steals.
Wright had another well-rounded game against Adams State in the regular season finale. After celebrating his Senior Day before the game, Wright scored 21 points on 9 of 16 shooting alongside six rebounds, a season-high six assists and a season-high four steals.
The two performances are Wright's sixth and seventh 20-point games of the season. It is the second Player of the Week award of the season, as he previously won on December 16 after scoring 24 points in back-to-back contests against CSU Pueblo and UCCS on December 12 and 14.
Wright now joins teammate Jalen Thomas as CSC players with two Offensive Player of the Week wins apiece in 2024-25. The CSC duo join Adams State's Jude Tapia and Regis's Kobe Sanders as RMAC players to win the award twice this season. Regis and Chadron State are tied for the most wins by school with four apiece.
Chadron State men's basketball earned the No. 8 seed in the RMAC Tournament and will face top seed Colorado School of Mines in an RMAC Tournament quarterfinal at 7 p.m. on Tuesday in Golden, Colorado.
Eagles Prepare For RMAC Quarterfinal
CHADRON, Neb. – Chadron State men's basketball will make the program's third consecutive RMAC Tournament appearance on Tuesday night, but the 2024-25 Eagles will try to do something no CSC team has done in over 30 years – advance out of the first round.
It will be a tough task on Tuesday for the Eagles (15-13, 11-9 RMAC), with CSC's opponent being the league's top seed and No. 5-ranked team in the country, Colorado School of Mines (24-4, 18-2 RMAC). The Orediggers defeated Chadron State 76-61 and 104-77 in the regular season but lost last week to UCCS to snap what had been an eight-game winning streak.
The game will be streamed on the RMAC Network on pay-per-view. It will be broadcast on Double Q Country 97.5 FM and doubleqcountry.com, while live stats will also be available. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. on Tuesday night.
Looking Back
Chadron State finished the regular season 2-0 with home wins over Fort Lewis and Adams State. Despite the undefeated week, the Eagles were unable to make up ground on teams immediately above them in the standings and finished as the No. 8 seed in the RMAC.
RECAPS: Fort Lewis | Adams State
The Eagles won in thrilling fashion over Fort Lewis, with Zy Wright hitting a game-tying three-pointer with 58 seconds remaining and Jalen Thomas burying a go-ahead jumper with 0.7 seconds left to win 84-82. The Eagles had a season-high eight blocks as a team.
CSC took control in the second half against Adams State, scoring 63 second-half points as they defeated Adams State 105-86. The Eagles set season-highs against RMAC opponents in points and made threes (13). The Eagles racked up a season-high 30 assists and had only seven turnovers, tied for their second-fewest total of the year.
Programming Note
As with all championship events, the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference will place video live streams of the RMAC Men's Basketball Tournament behind a paywall.
Basketball fans can purchase a championship pass for $25 that will give them access to all seven RMAC Tournament games on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday, or purchase a day pass for $9.99 that will give them access to all postseason events on that particular day.
For more information on purchasing options, visit this link. All regular season RMAC broadcasts remain free of charge.
Player of the Week
For the fourth time this season, a Chadron State player won the RMAC Offensive Player of the Week award, and for the second time this season, it was senior guard Zy Wright.
STORY: Wright Wins RMAC Offensive Player of the Week
Wright averaged 24.5 points per game, pouring in 28 against Fort Lewis and 21 against Adams State. He shot 17-for-32 from the field for the week and added both a season-high six assists and a season-high four steals in the Adams State game.
The two performances are Wright's sixth and seventh 20-point games of the season. It is the second Player of the Week award of the season, as he previously won on December 16 after scoring 24 points in back-to-back contests against CSU Pueblo and UCCS on December 12 and 14.
Wright now joins teammate Jalen Thomas as CSC players with two Offensive Player of the Week wins apiece in 2024-25. The CSC duo join Adams State's Jude Tapia and Regis's Kobe Sanders as RMAC players to win the award twice this season. Regis and Chadron State are tied for the most wins by school with four apiece.
Stat Snapshots
Zy Wright is the team's leading scorer (14.0 ppg) and rebounder (6.4 rpg), ranking 13th in the RMAC in scoring and eighth in the league in rebounding.
Jalen Thomas is right behind Wright, averaging 13.4 points per game. Thomas ranks second in the RMAC in total assists (115), third in the RMAC in assists per game (4.1), fourth in the league in free throw percentage (.855) and seventh in field goal percentage (.502).
Julio Phipps and Darrius Miles are tied for the team lead and 10th in the conference with 21 blocks. Phipps is the team's fourth-leading scorer at 10.0 points per game and second-leading rebounder at 5.3 boards per game. Trey Ballard is the fourth and final Eagle averaging in double figures at 10.5 points per game.
The Eagles rank eighth in the RMAC in both scoring offense (75.7 points per game) and scoring defense (allowing 73.3). CSC's scoring margin of +2.4 is sixth in the RMAC.
RMAC Tournament Bracket
Eight of the RMAC's 15 teams have qualified for the RMAC Men's Basketball conference tournament. Quarterfinal games will be played Tuesday, with each of the top four seeds hosting a game. The four winners will then congregate at the highest remaining seed for the semifinals on Friday and the finals on Saturday.
Colorado School of Mines won the regular season RMAC championship with an 18-2 league record and will be the top seed, facing the No. 8-seed Eagles. The Orediggers won the league by four games over No. 2 seed Regis at 14-6.
No. 3 seed Colorado Mesa, No. 4 seed MSU Denver and No. 5 seed Black Hills State all finished at 13-7 in league play, with CMU coming out on top thanks to head-to-head victories over both MSUD and BHSU. The rest of the tournament seeds feature 12-8 Fort Lewis as the No. 6 and 11-9 UCCS as the No. 7, with UCCS finishing ahead of CSC due to the Mountain Lions' head-to-head win over the Eagles.
Below is the schedule for Tuesday's quarterfinal games:
No. 5 Black Hills State @ No. 4 MSU Denver, 6 p.m.
No. 7 UCCS @ No. 2 Regis, 7 p.m.
No. 8 Chadron State @ No. 1 Colorado School of Mines, 7 p.m.
No. 6 Fort Lewis @ No. 3 Colorado Mesa, 7:30 p.m.
The most intriguing matchups aside from CSC's game include a rematch of the past two RMAC Tournament championship games between Fort Lewis and Colorado Mesa and a rematch of the final regular season game between UCCS and Regis. The tournament does not re-seed in the semifinals, meaning that if CSC does upset Mines, the Eagles would still face the No. 4/No. 5 seed winner.
RMAC Tournament History
Chadron State men's basketball is in the conference tournament for the third straight year, setting a new program record in the NCAA/RMAC era. Chadron State will be making its 10th RMAC tournament appearance as a program, and the Eagles are only 1-9 all-time in RMAC tournament games in school history.
The Eagles were the No. 5 seed two seasons ago and lost a first-round game to then-No. 4 seed Colorado School of Mines 87-68 in Golden. Last year, the Eagles were also the No. 8 seed and fell to then-No. 1 seed Colorado Mesa 84-74.
In CSC's first RMAC tournament appearance in 1992-93, the Eagles won their first RMAC game 95-83 against Colorado School of Mines, then fell in the semifinal round to Mesa State (now Colorado Mesa) 78-62.
Since that 1-1 tournament in 1993, the Eagles have lost in the first round eight consecutive times at the RMAC tourney, going one-and-done in 1994, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2012, 2021, 2023 and 2024.
CSC is 1-2 against the Orediggers, as after the Eagles defeated the Orediggers in 1993, CSM won tournament matchups in 1994 and 2023. Mesa State/Colorado Mesa has been the Eagles' most common RMAC Tournament opponent, as the Eagles are 0-4 against the Mavericks with losses in 1993, 1999, 2021 and 2024.
Home/Road Splits
Chadron State has defended its home court throughout the season, as the Eagles finished the regular season 10-3 in the Chicoine Center. That record includes an 8-2 record in home RMAC games and an active seven-game home win streak.
The Eagles are the opposite on the road, however, with a 5-10 total record away from Chadron this season that includes a 4-9 mark in true road games, a 1-1 record in neutral site games and a 3-7 mark in conference road games. Chadron State will need to figure out how to win on the road to make a postseason run, with no more home games possible.
1K Club
Both Jalen Thomas and Zy Wright have eclipsed 1,000 points in their career this season across all NCAA/NJCAA/NAIA levels.
Thomas crossed the 1,000-point barrier against CSU Pueblo on February 8. The fifth-year senior recorded 698 in two seasons at Oklahoma Panhandle State (NAIA) before transferring to Division I Tarleton State, where he scored 35 points in two seasons. Thomas has recorded 374 points and counting this season with Chadron State, giving him 1,107 for his career.
Zy Wright was the first Eagle this season to reach the milestone. Wright scored 528 points at the junior college level with Gordon State before putting up 285 points in 2023-24 with Lone Star Conference member Texas-Permian Basin.
Wright has recorded 393 points and counting this season with Chadron State, giving him 1,206 entering this weekend. Wright's 1,000th career point came in the midst of his career-high 34-point game in an overtime loss to New Mexico Highlands earlier this year.
Historic Wins
Chadron State has snapped a couple of long program losing streaks this season.
Against Colorado Mesa on January 25, the Eagles' 69-67 win broke a streak of CMU having won 13 straight games against the Eagles prior to Chadron State's breakthrough. The win is the first by Chadron State over Colorado Mesa since December 5, 2014.
On January 16, CSC beat Adams State on the road 91-86, making history as the first win for the Eagles in Alamosa since 2009.
Another streak-breaking moment will be necessary on Tuesday for the Eagles' season to continue. Colorado School of Mines has won 31 consecutive matchups in the series between the two schools. Chadron State has not won in Golden since the 2003 season.
Lights Out
Chadron State had historical offensive output on December 16 in their 107-50 win over Central Christian.
The Eagles made 43 of 64 field goal attempts (.672) and were even better, percentage-wise, from three-point land, sinking 16 of 23 attempts for a .696 percentage, which is the best single-game percentage by an RMAC team this season.
Chadron State's 16 made three-pointers are just two off the single-game school record of 18, set on November 21, 2021 against Haskell Indian Nations. That game also featured the single-game program record for assists (35).
The 57-point margin of victory is the second highest in school history, trailing only a 103-45 CSC win over South Dakota Mines in November of 1998. Ironically, the Hardrockers had defeated Chadron State by 10 points just 11 days before that 58-point blowout.
Scouting the Orediggers
Colorado School of Mines has been the RMAC's most impressive regular season team this season. The Orediggers are 24-4 overall with an 18-2 mark in RMAC play. Mines is ranked No. 5 in the nation according to the NABC Coaches Poll and No. 6 according to the D2CSC Media Poll.
Mines is 2-0 against Chadron State so far this season, with the Orediggers winning 76-61 in Chadron on January 9 and 104-77 in Colorado on February 15. The Orediggers did have one of their two RMAC stumbles last week, losing 58-57 to UCCS before ending the regular season with a 76-71 win over CSU Pueblo.
Colorado School of Mines finished at or near the top of the RMAC in many statistical categories. As a team, the Orediggers had both the second-best scoring offense (82.2 points per game) and scoring defense (68.4) with the league's top scoring margin (+13.9). Mines led the conference in field goal percentage (50.1 percent from the floor), assists per game (18.5), bench points per game (38.2) and assist/turnover ratio (1.44).
The Orediggers are led by Pepperdine transfer Majok Deng, who ranks fifth in the league in scoring with 14.9 points per game and leads the conference in free-throw percentage (87.9). Riley Schroeder averages 12.2 points per game with a .530 field-goal percentage while Markus Pastorcic-Straun scores 10.6 points per contest.
Orediggers Head Coach Pryor Orser is in his 24th season in charge and is the all-time RMAC leader in career wins. At Mines, Orser has won five RMAC regular-season championships, two RMAC tournament titles and two NCAA Elite Eight appearances.
Coach's Corner
Chadron State Head Coach Chris Francis is in his first season leading the Eagle men's basketball program. Francis comes to Chadron after serving as the head coach at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (NAIA) since 2015.
At USAO, Francis put together a career record of 176-94. Francis led the Drovers to five NAIA National Tourney appearances, a Sooner Athletic Conference Championship, and a Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament Championship, also taking USAO to an NAIA Elite Eight. Francis is a two-time Sooner Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, winning the award in 2017 and 2022.
A former student-athlete, Francis was a starting guard and captain of the men's basketball team at Rogers State University. In 2011, he helped lead Rogers State to the NAIA Elite Eight and a 30-2 record. Following that season, Francis was named the Sooner Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year. He was recently inducted into the Rogers State Athletic Hall of Fame.
It will be a tough task on Tuesday for the Eagles (15-13, 11-9 RMAC), with CSC's opponent being the league's top seed and No. 5-ranked team in the country, Colorado School of Mines (24-4, 18-2 RMAC). The Orediggers defeated Chadron State 76-61 and 104-77 in the regular season but lost last week to UCCS to snap what had been an eight-game winning streak.
The game will be streamed on the RMAC Network on pay-per-view. It will be broadcast on Double Q Country 97.5 FM and doubleqcountry.com, while live stats will also be available. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. on Tuesday night.
Looking Back
Chadron State finished the regular season 2-0 with home wins over Fort Lewis and Adams State. Despite the undefeated week, the Eagles were unable to make up ground on teams immediately above them in the standings and finished as the No. 8 seed in the RMAC.
RECAPS: Fort Lewis | Adams State
The Eagles won in thrilling fashion over Fort Lewis, with Zy Wright hitting a game-tying three-pointer with 58 seconds remaining and Jalen Thomas burying a go-ahead jumper with 0.7 seconds left to win 84-82. The Eagles had a season-high eight blocks as a team.
CSC took control in the second half against Adams State, scoring 63 second-half points as they defeated Adams State 105-86. The Eagles set season-highs against RMAC opponents in points and made threes (13). The Eagles racked up a season-high 30 assists and had only seven turnovers, tied for their second-fewest total of the year.
Programming Note
As with all championship events, the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference will place video live streams of the RMAC Men's Basketball Tournament behind a paywall.
Basketball fans can purchase a championship pass for $25 that will give them access to all seven RMAC Tournament games on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday, or purchase a day pass for $9.99 that will give them access to all postseason events on that particular day.
For more information on purchasing options, visit this link. All regular season RMAC broadcasts remain free of charge.
Player of the Week
For the fourth time this season, a Chadron State player won the RMAC Offensive Player of the Week award, and for the second time this season, it was senior guard Zy Wright.
STORY: Wright Wins RMAC Offensive Player of the Week
Wright averaged 24.5 points per game, pouring in 28 against Fort Lewis and 21 against Adams State. He shot 17-for-32 from the field for the week and added both a season-high six assists and a season-high four steals in the Adams State game.
The two performances are Wright's sixth and seventh 20-point games of the season. It is the second Player of the Week award of the season, as he previously won on December 16 after scoring 24 points in back-to-back contests against CSU Pueblo and UCCS on December 12 and 14.
Wright now joins teammate Jalen Thomas as CSC players with two Offensive Player of the Week wins apiece in 2024-25. The CSC duo join Adams State's Jude Tapia and Regis's Kobe Sanders as RMAC players to win the award twice this season. Regis and Chadron State are tied for the most wins by school with four apiece.
Stat Snapshots
Zy Wright is the team's leading scorer (14.0 ppg) and rebounder (6.4 rpg), ranking 13th in the RMAC in scoring and eighth in the league in rebounding.
Jalen Thomas is right behind Wright, averaging 13.4 points per game. Thomas ranks second in the RMAC in total assists (115), third in the RMAC in assists per game (4.1), fourth in the league in free throw percentage (.855) and seventh in field goal percentage (.502).
Julio Phipps and Darrius Miles are tied for the team lead and 10th in the conference with 21 blocks. Phipps is the team's fourth-leading scorer at 10.0 points per game and second-leading rebounder at 5.3 boards per game. Trey Ballard is the fourth and final Eagle averaging in double figures at 10.5 points per game.
The Eagles rank eighth in the RMAC in both scoring offense (75.7 points per game) and scoring defense (allowing 73.3). CSC's scoring margin of +2.4 is sixth in the RMAC.
RMAC Tournament Bracket
Eight of the RMAC's 15 teams have qualified for the RMAC Men's Basketball conference tournament. Quarterfinal games will be played Tuesday, with each of the top four seeds hosting a game. The four winners will then congregate at the highest remaining seed for the semifinals on Friday and the finals on Saturday.
Colorado School of Mines won the regular season RMAC championship with an 18-2 league record and will be the top seed, facing the No. 8-seed Eagles. The Orediggers won the league by four games over No. 2 seed Regis at 14-6.
No. 3 seed Colorado Mesa, No. 4 seed MSU Denver and No. 5 seed Black Hills State all finished at 13-7 in league play, with CMU coming out on top thanks to head-to-head victories over both MSUD and BHSU. The rest of the tournament seeds feature 12-8 Fort Lewis as the No. 6 and 11-9 UCCS as the No. 7, with UCCS finishing ahead of CSC due to the Mountain Lions' head-to-head win over the Eagles.
Below is the schedule for Tuesday's quarterfinal games:
No. 5 Black Hills State @ No. 4 MSU Denver, 6 p.m.
No. 7 UCCS @ No. 2 Regis, 7 p.m.
No. 8 Chadron State @ No. 1 Colorado School of Mines, 7 p.m.
No. 6 Fort Lewis @ No. 3 Colorado Mesa, 7:30 p.m.
The most intriguing matchups aside from CSC's game include a rematch of the past two RMAC Tournament championship games between Fort Lewis and Colorado Mesa and a rematch of the final regular season game between UCCS and Regis. The tournament does not re-seed in the semifinals, meaning that if CSC does upset Mines, the Eagles would still face the No. 4/No. 5 seed winner.
RMAC Tournament History
Chadron State men's basketball is in the conference tournament for the third straight year, setting a new program record in the NCAA/RMAC era. Chadron State will be making its 10th RMAC tournament appearance as a program, and the Eagles are only 1-9 all-time in RMAC tournament games in school history.
The Eagles were the No. 5 seed two seasons ago and lost a first-round game to then-No. 4 seed Colorado School of Mines 87-68 in Golden. Last year, the Eagles were also the No. 8 seed and fell to then-No. 1 seed Colorado Mesa 84-74.
In CSC's first RMAC tournament appearance in 1992-93, the Eagles won their first RMAC game 95-83 against Colorado School of Mines, then fell in the semifinal round to Mesa State (now Colorado Mesa) 78-62.
Since that 1-1 tournament in 1993, the Eagles have lost in the first round eight consecutive times at the RMAC tourney, going one-and-done in 1994, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2012, 2021, 2023 and 2024.
CSC is 1-2 against the Orediggers, as after the Eagles defeated the Orediggers in 1993, CSM won tournament matchups in 1994 and 2023. Mesa State/Colorado Mesa has been the Eagles' most common RMAC Tournament opponent, as the Eagles are 0-4 against the Mavericks with losses in 1993, 1999, 2021 and 2024.
Home/Road Splits
Chadron State has defended its home court throughout the season, as the Eagles finished the regular season 10-3 in the Chicoine Center. That record includes an 8-2 record in home RMAC games and an active seven-game home win streak.
The Eagles are the opposite on the road, however, with a 5-10 total record away from Chadron this season that includes a 4-9 mark in true road games, a 1-1 record in neutral site games and a 3-7 mark in conference road games. Chadron State will need to figure out how to win on the road to make a postseason run, with no more home games possible.
1K Club
Both Jalen Thomas and Zy Wright have eclipsed 1,000 points in their career this season across all NCAA/NJCAA/NAIA levels.
Thomas crossed the 1,000-point barrier against CSU Pueblo on February 8. The fifth-year senior recorded 698 in two seasons at Oklahoma Panhandle State (NAIA) before transferring to Division I Tarleton State, where he scored 35 points in two seasons. Thomas has recorded 374 points and counting this season with Chadron State, giving him 1,107 for his career.
Zy Wright was the first Eagle this season to reach the milestone. Wright scored 528 points at the junior college level with Gordon State before putting up 285 points in 2023-24 with Lone Star Conference member Texas-Permian Basin.
Wright has recorded 393 points and counting this season with Chadron State, giving him 1,206 entering this weekend. Wright's 1,000th career point came in the midst of his career-high 34-point game in an overtime loss to New Mexico Highlands earlier this year.
Historic Wins
Chadron State has snapped a couple of long program losing streaks this season.
Against Colorado Mesa on January 25, the Eagles' 69-67 win broke a streak of CMU having won 13 straight games against the Eagles prior to Chadron State's breakthrough. The win is the first by Chadron State over Colorado Mesa since December 5, 2014.
On January 16, CSC beat Adams State on the road 91-86, making history as the first win for the Eagles in Alamosa since 2009.
Another streak-breaking moment will be necessary on Tuesday for the Eagles' season to continue. Colorado School of Mines has won 31 consecutive matchups in the series between the two schools. Chadron State has not won in Golden since the 2003 season.
Lights Out
Chadron State had historical offensive output on December 16 in their 107-50 win over Central Christian.
The Eagles made 43 of 64 field goal attempts (.672) and were even better, percentage-wise, from three-point land, sinking 16 of 23 attempts for a .696 percentage, which is the best single-game percentage by an RMAC team this season.
Chadron State's 16 made three-pointers are just two off the single-game school record of 18, set on November 21, 2021 against Haskell Indian Nations. That game also featured the single-game program record for assists (35).
The 57-point margin of victory is the second highest in school history, trailing only a 103-45 CSC win over South Dakota Mines in November of 1998. Ironically, the Hardrockers had defeated Chadron State by 10 points just 11 days before that 58-point blowout.
Scouting the Orediggers
Colorado School of Mines has been the RMAC's most impressive regular season team this season. The Orediggers are 24-4 overall with an 18-2 mark in RMAC play. Mines is ranked No. 5 in the nation according to the NABC Coaches Poll and No. 6 according to the D2CSC Media Poll.
Mines is 2-0 against Chadron State so far this season, with the Orediggers winning 76-61 in Chadron on January 9 and 104-77 in Colorado on February 15. The Orediggers did have one of their two RMAC stumbles last week, losing 58-57 to UCCS before ending the regular season with a 76-71 win over CSU Pueblo.
Colorado School of Mines finished at or near the top of the RMAC in many statistical categories. As a team, the Orediggers had both the second-best scoring offense (82.2 points per game) and scoring defense (68.4) with the league's top scoring margin (+13.9). Mines led the conference in field goal percentage (50.1 percent from the floor), assists per game (18.5), bench points per game (38.2) and assist/turnover ratio (1.44).
The Orediggers are led by Pepperdine transfer Majok Deng, who ranks fifth in the league in scoring with 14.9 points per game and leads the conference in free-throw percentage (87.9). Riley Schroeder averages 12.2 points per game with a .530 field-goal percentage while Markus Pastorcic-Straun scores 10.6 points per contest.
Orediggers Head Coach Pryor Orser is in his 24th season in charge and is the all-time RMAC leader in career wins. At Mines, Orser has won five RMAC regular-season championships, two RMAC tournament titles and two NCAA Elite Eight appearances.
Coach's Corner
Chadron State Head Coach Chris Francis is in his first season leading the Eagle men's basketball program. Francis comes to Chadron after serving as the head coach at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (NAIA) since 2015.
At USAO, Francis put together a career record of 176-94. Francis led the Drovers to five NAIA National Tourney appearances, a Sooner Athletic Conference Championship, and a Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament Championship, also taking USAO to an NAIA Elite Eight. Francis is a two-time Sooner Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, winning the award in 2017 and 2022.
A former student-athlete, Francis was a starting guard and captain of the men's basketball team at Rogers State University. In 2011, he helped lead Rogers State to the NAIA Elite Eight and a 30-2 record. Following that season, Francis was named the Sooner Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year. He was recently inducted into the Rogers State Athletic Hall of Fame.
