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UNC Basketball 2019-20 Player Preview: Jeremiah Francis

By Zack Pearson

COLUMBUS, OHIO - MARCH 22: Rameses, the North Carolina Tar Heels mascot, is seen as they take on the Iona Gaels during the first half of the game in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Nationwide Arena on March 22, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OHIO - MARCH 22: Rameses, the North Carolina Tar Heels mascot, is seen as they take on the Iona Gaels during the first half of the game in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Nationwide Arena on March 22, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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We begin our 2019-20 UNC basketball player previews with freshman point guard Jeremiah Francis and what to expect in his first year with the Tar Heels

With just over a month until the start of the 2019-20 college basketball season, now is a great time to start our player season previews. As always, we will begin the previews with the incoming freshmen and make our way down the roster.

Up first is a recruit that missed all of his senior year of high school basketball and part of his junior year as well but was the first recruit to commit to the Tar Heels in 2020.

Jeremiah Francis offered his verbal commitment to UNC on August 11, 2017 as a four-star recruit out of Pickerington, Ohio. Francis played high school ball with current Tar Heels big man Sterling Manley and the two will reunite in Chapel Hill again.

2018-19 Season in Review

When he committed to UNC, Francis was considered a top-50 player with a four-star ranking in the 2020 class. He’s a physical guard that plays both offense and defense well. The problem for Francis was the injuries.

As noted before, Francis missed his entire junior and senior seasons of high school basketball with a knee injury. He had surgery to repair the knee and actually returned to the court in Summer of 2018.

But then he had another setback.

The pain returned in the knee for Francis and it forced him to have another procedure done, leading him to miss his senior year. Still, Francis signed with the Tar Heels during the early signing period in 2018 and joined UNC’s impressive 2019 class.

What to expect in 2019-20?

It’s tough to say what we can expect from Francis right away at UNC. He was at Late Night With Roy but did not participate in the scrimmage. Francis was held out as a precaution for his knee as the team hopes he doesn’t re-aggravate anything that would cause him to miss more time.

With it being just the first two weeks of practice, Francis’ outlook for the season is still a little murky. There isn’t a lot of information out and it wouldn’t shock us if he’s held out for the first few games of the year. The good news for UNC is that they have some depth on the wing in case he can’t go.

When Francis does take the court in 2019-20, we can expect it to be off the bench. Francis will be the third or fourth option at guard. That’s not a knock on Francis because before he suffered the two injuries, he actually played very well and was rated as a Top 50 player in the class.

The quickness and ball-handling are what really stand out for Francis and if he gets to full speed, we could see that on display sometime this season.

Bold prediction

If everything works out for Francis and he does see the court early, I’ll go with a bold prediction of him playing more than we should expect. I can see a scenario where Francis can make an impact off the bench, whether it’s giving Anthony and Harris some time to rest or come in to provide a spark when Roy eventually has a game where he benches all five starters at once.

Seeing Francis play and average 4-5 minutes a game would be huge for this team and the depth.

It’s all going to depend on how healthy he is and his starting point this season. Let’s just hope we get to see him on the court sooner rather than later.

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