UNC Basketball: Jeremiah Francis’ role needs to be increased following the Gonzaga loss

Since the defining win over eighth ranked Oregon, the Tar Heels have dropped four straight. The UNC basketball team is unranked for the first time in nearly six years and it only adds injury to insult that Cole Anthony still has over a month left in his recovery process.

The Tar Heels went into the Kennel Wednesday night to face off with the No. 2 Gonzaga Bulldogs in a tough non-conference matchup. The rematch of the 2017 national championship lacked excitement and was quite lopsided as the Tar Heels are currently unranked and struggling without their star freshman.

UNC never really stood a chance in this one but there was absolutely some positives to take away from this game.

That positive was Jeremiah Francis, the freshman from Ohio who has been battling back from a right knee injury that has kept him absent for quite a while now. The matchup against the Zags was Francis’ third game of the season, but his first with substantial minutes. Jeremiah was undoubtedly the player of the game for North Carolina as his comfort as a court general was evident.

All game long Francis stayed composed and confident. He was a plus-7 while on the court in a game where no starter had a positive plus/minus. What was eye-opening for the freshman was the fact that he spent the most time with the ball in his hands of anyone on the team, yet had zero turnovers in a game where the team total was eleven.

It was a natural comfort for Francis which is a skill that you can’t teach.

Along with the ability to control the tempo and lead the offense, Francis did his part in making his open looks. He shot 4-for-9 from the field and 2-for-3 from beyond the arc leading to eleven points total for the outing. The scoring wasn’t off the charts, but what stood out, in my opinion, was his fearlessness attacking the rim.

He put his head down and put everything he got into making his way into the paint either creating for himself or for others.

After the Gonzaga game, Francis was asked about his return from injury and how he felt out there and he responded with: “It’s been a long journey and I believe there’s still some stuff I need to touch up on. Every day I’m trying to get better in practice, just go hard in practice and I know nobody’s perfect, but just keep getting better. That’s what I tell myself every day, just keep getting better”

The confidence from the freshman point guard is beyond obvious and his role needs to be expanded. He clearly has put the work in to recover and get to this point. Moving forward he should be a starter. The way he controlled the game and led this team is an unteachable skill, like I stated earlier. It’s not a numbers thing with Francis, it’s a matter of comfort.

He took the moment and embraced it. Although the Heels lost, his performance was a clear positive and he will continue to grow as he gets into the flow of a college basketball season. Expect a lot out of Jeremiah Francis going forward.