{"id":50471,"date":"2017-02-01T11:25:33","date_gmt":"2017-02-01T17:25:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=50471"},"modified":"2017-02-01T13:37:59","modified_gmt":"2017-02-01T19:37:59","slug":"niles-norths-damaria-franklin-developing-into-one-of-areas-stars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/niles-norths-damaria-franklin-developing-into-one-of-areas-stars\/","title":{"rendered":"Niles North\u2019s Damaria Franklin developing into one of area\u2019s stars"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brent Schwartz<\/strong><\/p>\n

Niles North\u2019s Damaria Franklin was on the wing, where he often is, calling for the ball. Upon securing a pass, he moved towards the basket, except this time, there were three New Trier defenders draped all over him. Franklin then looked right and found Jamaal Stephenson open in the corner. Stephenson promptly drained a three-pointer.<\/p>\n

Helping his team out in ways other than scoring was the mantra for Franklin on this night. Earlier in the game, Franklin drew a charge down low before the two teams took a timeout.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re being a stud right now without even scoring a point,\u201d said Niles North head coach Glenn Olson, as he looked at Franklin in the huddle.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Of course, this wasn\u2019t a usual game for Franklin, Niles North\u2019s leading scorer and do-it-all threat. New Trier keyed on the junior guard, opening opportunities for other players to score.<\/p>\n

Niles North took advantage in a 65-39 victory over New Trier. Stephenson led the way with a game-high 19 points.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Franklin who had only 6 points, wasn\u2019t dwelling on the stat sheet.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo me, it doesn\u2019t matter about scoring that much,\u201d Franklin said. \u201cI just want to get my teammates the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Either way, Franklin is making an impact at Niles North. It began last season, when as a sophomore he shined in leading the Vikings to the regional championship game. As the Vikings\u2019 second-leading scorer on varsity, Franklin came into his junior season knowing he would be relied on even more. Niles North\u2019s leading scorer from last season, Crishawn Cook, graduated, and is now playing at Southern Illinois.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe connected really well on the court,\u201d said Cook. \u201cHis role has changed big-time. He\u2019s the leader now. When they need a bucket now, he\u2019ll be the guy to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Franklin is the only returning starter from last year\u2019s team. The Vikings won three consecutive championships from 2010 to 2012, but are still searching for their fourth regional title during the Olson era. If\u00a0they are to do it this season, much will be riding on\u00a0Franklin.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of pressure,\u201d said Franklin. This season, I know I have to step up and be a leader on the floor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Franklin is averaging 16.7 points and 6.6 rebounds per game thus far. He leads in both categories for the 14-8 Vikings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s a little more mature this year,\u201d said Olson. \u201cHe has to do more this season. He has to score 20, he has to get 10 rebounds, for us to do well. We all really count him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Using his 6-foot-3-inch frame, Franklin possesses the power to drive to the basket, but also has enough finesse to play an entire game at the perimeter. Franklin can beat both man-to-man and zone defense with his unique skill set, making him one of the area\u2019s most excitingly dangerous threats to the basket.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just give him the green light on offense,\u201d said Olson.<\/p>\n

During the Vikings season opener versus Jones College Prep, Franklin saw an opening in the lane, and he took it. He leaped above two Jones College Prep defenders and dunked the ball with ease. That\u2019s the athletic ability Franklin possesses.<\/p>\n

Now, teams are beginning to key on Franklin, which means at times he also must create offense away from the basket.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to get everyone else involved,\u201d said Franklin.<\/p>\n

Against New Trier, Franklin touched the ball on virtually every possession. The offense still flows through him, but Franklin\u2019s ability to draw double-teams, and find teammates for uncontested shots is a skill that will elevate Niles North during the team\u2019s stretch run.<\/p>\n

Photo at top: Niles North junior Damaria Franklin attempts a shot over an Evanston defender. (Brent Schwartz\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Brent Schwartz Niles North\u2019s Damaria Franklin was on the wing, where he often is, calling for the ball. Upon securing a pass, he moved towards the basket, except this time, there were three New Trier defenders draped all over him. Franklin then looked right and found Jamaal Stephenson open in the corner. Stephenson promptly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":380,"featured_media":50486,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,3516],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","category-winter-2017"],"yoast_head":"\nNiles North\u2019s Damaria Franklin developing into one of area\u2019s stars - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/niles-norths-damaria-franklin-developing-into-one-of-areas-stars\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Niles North\u2019s Damaria Franklin developing into one of area\u2019s stars - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Brent Schwartz Niles North\u2019s Damaria Franklin was on the wing, where he often is, calling for the ball. Upon securing a pass, he moved towards the basket, except this time, there were three New Trier defenders draped all over him. Franklin then looked right and found Jamaal Stephenson open in the corner. Stephenson promptly […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/niles-norths-damaria-franklin-developing-into-one-of-areas-stars\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-02-01T17:25:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-02-01T19:37:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/02\/Basketball.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"620\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"brentschwartz2017\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"brentschwartz2017\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/niles-norths-damaria-franklin-developing-into-one-of-areas-stars\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/niles-norths-damaria-franklin-developing-into-one-of-areas-stars\/\",\"name\":\"Niles North\u2019s Damaria Franklin developing into one of area\u2019s stars - Medill Reports Chicago\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/niles-norths-damaria-franklin-developing-into-one-of-areas-stars\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/niles-norths-damaria-franklin-developing-into-one-of-areas-stars\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/02\/Basketball.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-02-01T17:25:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-02-01T19:37:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/eb06016882e43835abc38a2ea46d9757\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/niles-norths-damaria-franklin-developing-into-one-of-areas-stars\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/niles-norths-damaria-franklin-developing-into-one-of-areas-stars\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/niles-norths-damaria-franklin-developing-into-one-of-areas-stars\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/02\/Basketball.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/02\/Basketball.jpg\",\"width\":1100,\"height\":620,\"caption\":\"Niles North\u2019s junior Damaria Franklin attempts a shot over an Evanston defender.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/niles-norths-damaria-franklin-developing-into-one-of-areas-stars\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Niles North\u2019s Damaria Franklin developing into one of area\u2019s stars\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\",\"name\":\"Medill Reports Chicago\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/eb06016882e43835abc38a2ea46d9757\",\"name\":\"brentschwartz2017\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/99cc136d478983179d2dd3663ec50af7fefc48b5f7f46c06e5a2a39fe2ea2931?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/99cc136d478983179d2dd3663ec50af7fefc48b5f7f46c06e5a2a39fe2ea2931?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"brentschwartz2017\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/brentschwartz2017\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Niles North\u2019s Damaria Franklin developing into one of area\u2019s stars - Medill Reports Chicago","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/niles-norths-damaria-franklin-developing-into-one-of-areas-stars\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Niles North\u2019s Damaria Franklin developing into one of area\u2019s stars - Medill Reports Chicago","og_description":"By Brent Schwartz Niles North\u2019s Damaria Franklin was on the wing, where he often is, calling for the ball. Upon securing a pass, he moved towards the basket, except this time, there were three New Trier defenders draped all over him. Franklin then looked right and found Jamaal Stephenson open in the corner. Stephenson promptly […]","og_url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/niles-norths-damaria-franklin-developing-into-one-of-areas-stars\/","og_site_name":"Medill Reports Chicago","article_published_time":"2017-02-01T17:25:33+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-02-01T19:37:59+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1100,"height":620,"url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/02\/Basketball.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"brentschwartz2017","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"brentschwartz2017","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/niles-norths-damaria-franklin-developing-into-one-of-areas-stars\/","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/niles-norths-damaria-franklin-developing-into-one-of-areas-stars\/","name":"Niles North\u2019s Damaria Franklin developing into one of area\u2019s stars - Medill Reports Chicago","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/niles-norths-damaria-franklin-developing-into-one-of-areas-stars\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/niles-norths-damaria-franklin-developing-into-one-of-areas-stars\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/02\/Basketball.jpg","datePublished":"2017-02-01T17:25:33+00:00","dateModified":"2017-02-01T19:37:59+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/eb06016882e43835abc38a2ea46d9757"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/niles-norths-damaria-franklin-developing-into-one-of-areas-stars\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/niles-norths-damaria-franklin-developing-into-one-of-areas-stars\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/niles-norths-damaria-franklin-developing-into-one-of-areas-stars\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/02\/Basketball.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2017\/02\/Basketball.jpg","width":1100,"height":620,"caption":"Niles North\u2019s junior Damaria Franklin attempts a shot over an Evanston defender."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/niles-norths-damaria-franklin-developing-into-one-of-areas-stars\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Niles North\u2019s Damaria Franklin developing into one of area\u2019s stars"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/","name":"Medill Reports Chicago","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/eb06016882e43835abc38a2ea46d9757","name":"brentschwartz2017","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/99cc136d478983179d2dd3663ec50af7fefc48b5f7f46c06e5a2a39fe2ea2931?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/99cc136d478983179d2dd3663ec50af7fefc48b5f7f46c06e5a2a39fe2ea2931?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"brentschwartz2017"},"url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/brentschwartz2017\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/380"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50471"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50471\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}