UNC Basketball: Former Tar Heel point guard lands at New Mexico

UNC basketball bids final farewell to former point guard Jeremiah Francis, who chose to continue his education and basketball career at New Mexico

Former University of North Carolina basketball player Jeremiah Francis has committed to the New Mexico Lobos after announcing in April that he’d transfer for his remaining three years of college eligibility.

The oft-injured Francis averaged just 13.6 minutes per game as a freshman at North Carolina, but played a pivotal role off the UNC bench in the absence of fellow rookie point guard Cole Anthony. During an eight-game stretch from mid-December to late January, Francis logged nearly 23 minutes per contest, and the Tar Heels saw greatly increased production from him as a result.

In consecutive games against Gonzaga, UCLA and Yale, Francis scored 11, 12 and 10 points, respectively, while averaging four assists per game. He recorded at least three assists in five games, and helped pace the Tar Heels when they needed him most.

For the season, Francis averaged 3.3 points, 1.6 assists and 1.3 rebounds per game in 16 appearances. He struggled to shoot the basketball, hitting just 22.7 percent of his shots from the floor, and 20 percent from beyond the arc. Despite his shooting woes, though, Francis was good at running the point for Williams, and facilitating the UNC offense.

Francis quickly became a fan favorite at UNC, and earned the love and respect of his teammates, too. Their support has been visible on social media in the weeks since he announced that he’d be leaving Chapel Hill, and entering the NCAA transfer portal.

https://twitter.com/BasktballPower/status/1258913992560586754

Francis’ decision to leave UNC comes after Roy Williams and the Tar Heels brought in the nation’s No. 2-ranked recruiting class in 2020. It’s a class the includes a pair of likely freshman starters in 5-star point guard Caleb Love and 4-star combo guard R.J. Davis, as well as a pair of top-100 knock-down shooters in Puff Johnson and Kerwin Walton. Add redshirt freshman shooting guard Anthony Harris to the mix — who’s recovering from a torn ACL that he sustained last season — and the Tar Heels are absolutely stacked with talent in their back court.

That would have left Francis with very little opportunity for meaningful playing time with the Tar Heels, and that’s something he’s hoping to find when he joins the Lobos in the fall. We wish Francis all the best in his future endeavors, both academically and athletically, as he furthers his career at the University of New Mexico.

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