Cavalier Corner is the publication just for UVa sports fans!
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16 CAVALIER CORNER BY PATRICK BOLING N ow in Year 2 with the Virginia men's basketball program, Ar‑ maan Franklin has started to find his groove. Coming off a disappointing year in 2021‑22 when UVA averaged just 62.4 points per game and had its streak of seven straight NCAA Tournament berths snapped, Franklin and the Cavaliers are back on track midway through the 2022‑23 season. Virginia won seven of its first nine ACC contests this year and was 15‑3 overall, with Franklin playing his best basketball as a Cavalier. Nearly halfway through conference play, Franklin was averaging a team‑best 12.8 points per game and had produced a team‑high five 20‑point perfor‑ mances on the season. Franklin's three‑point shooting accuracy has gone from 29.6 percent a year ago to 40.8 percent so far this season, a sig‑ nificant reason why the Cavaliers' scoring average has increased to 70.3 points per game this season and why UVA was the top three‑point shooting team (38.8 percent) in the league through Jan. 25. While the Hoos have reaped the benefits of Franklin's prolific scoring ability, like when he tallied a career‑high 26 points in UVA's 86‑79 win over then‑No. 5 Baylor at the Continental Tire Main Event Nov. 18 in Las Vegas, his willingness to be impactful in other aspects of his game have also proven to be clutch. "I know my shot wasn't falling from behind the line," Franklin said of his three‑point shoot‑ ing performance during the Cavaliers' 65‑58 home win over North Carolina Jan. 10. "So, just finding other ways to impact the game, I think that's what I did a better job of doing. "That's what I'm doing this year, honestly. Even though sometimes my shot might not fall, just being able to impact the game on the offensive end as well as the defensive end and finding other ways to score and impact the game." "Part of playing, you're going to struggle," head coach Tony Bennett said in his post‑ game press conference after the Cavaliers' eighth straight home win over UNC. "Guys are going to struggle in stretches. But will you stay faithful and just keep playing, and not lose your way?" Franklin has stayed faithful. Against the Tar Heels, he padded the box score even without the basketball in his hands. Despite not making a single three‑pointer, he still managed to score a dozen points by attacking the rim in search of high‑percentage looks. Franklin was also active on defense, achieving career bests in both rebounds (9) and blocked shots (3). On Jan. 21, he notched his first career double‑double with a 25‑point, 10‑rebound effort in UVA's 76‑67 win at Wake Forest. Franklin's renewed confidence in himself stems from his rigorous summer workouts. "My offseason was hectic," he said. "A lot of travel. We got five weeks off. I was in Indianapolis for two weeks. I was in Houston for two weeks and then I went to Miami to train with Justin Anderson for a week. "He's a really competitive guy, so nothing came easy," Franklin said of training along‑ side Anderson, a former UVA standout who is currently in his 11th professional season between the NBA and its G League. "You know, in the shooting drills we were always pushing each other, things like that. "Playing with a lot of professionals out there kind of gets your confidence up. Know‑ ing who you're playing against and being able to impact the game when you're playing with them, it kind of gets your confidence high. And I just tried to bring that back to Charlot‑ tesville when we came back for the summer." Upon training with Anderson as well as NBA first‑round draft picks Marvin Bagley III and Collin Sexton, Franklin returned to Char‑ lottesville to, once again, link up with one of the best backcourts in the nation. Alongside Franklin are veterans Kihei Clark and Reece Beekman, who split duties as the team's floor general, and first‑year sharpshooter Isaac McKneely. The Cavaliers' back‑ court, whose play will be critical as the Hoos approach the postseason, is as close‑knit as can be, which Frank‑ lin said shows through during competition. "It's very good," Franklin said of the guards' relationship with one another. "We all push each other on and off the court. You know, we're always hanging out, laughing, joking, going out to eat, things like that. We're just really close. "I think that just translates to the court. We know where we're at on the court. We know each other's favorite spots that we're going to be in. We kind of just read each other's minds honestly out there. So, it's really good to have those close friend‑ ships and also lean on [them] on the court." If the Cavaliers, who achieved an Associ‑ ated Press top‑25 ranking as high as No. 2 earlier this season, can continue their cur‑ rent trajectory, perhaps Franklin's offseason will indeed come full circle when the 2023 Final Four commences April 1 at NRG Sta‑ dium in Houston, where Franklin spent part of this past summer training. No matter how things shake out for the Cavaliers, Franklin knows UVA is where he is meant to be. "Coming here after Indiana, I tried to pick the place that was best going to benefit me after college," he said. "And I feel like [after] narrowing things down that this was a place for me." Franklin's upward trend on the court certainly seems to reinforce the notion that UVA has been an all‑encompassing good fit for him personally. However, when the oc‑ casional, yet inevitable, scoring dry spells occur, he has demonstrated the ability and willingness to stay faithful, keep playing and not lose his way. FINDING HIS FINDING HIS GROOVE GROOVE Armaan Franklin Is Flourishing In His Second Season At Virginia