Date Posted: 1/31/2008

FORT MYERS, FLA. - Before Delvin Franklin takes a shot, three things have to happen.

He has to be open.

His feet have to be set.

A teammate can’t be more wide-open than he is.

“All the coaches want me to shoot a lot,” Franklin said. “But I pass a lot and am unselfish a lot.”

Coaches have worked hard on altering that mindset. It came around fully last Saturday, when he scored a career-high 25 points in an 87-80 win over Gardner-Webb, which he had bypassed in favor of FGCU.

Franklin increased his points per game to 8.1. His 12.4 average in Atlantic Sun Conference play ties him for 21st in the league.

“It’s come to the point where I agree with his junior college coach, where we can’t take him off the floor,” FGCU coach Dave Balza said of the guard.

“He’s a ridiculously good kid who works his tail off. Early in the year, he was playing about 12 to 15 minutes and getting four or five points and a few rebounds. Now, he’s consistently getting 10 to 12 points a game. We’ve asked him to rebound more and he’s done that. He’s also a solid defender.”

Balza recruited Franklin because he shot 47 percent from 3-point range at Lamar (Texas) Community College. He also liked the fact that Franklin is a cousin of Vince Young, the Tennessee Titans’ quarterback.

“I talked to him one time at a family reunion down in Houston,” Franklin, a junior, said. “He’s cool. I didn’t know he was a cousin. I told a couple of people but some people didn’t believe. They still don’t believe me.”

Unlike the gregarious Young, Franklin is quiet to a fault. When FGCU players scrimmaged before the start of season, he wouldn’t insert himself. Someone would have to take himself out first.

“We had 17 players on our roster, so guys were constantly trying to get on the floor,” Balza said. “Not Delvin. He was very content to watch and learn. I asked him, ‘Don’t you want to play?’ He said the other players were working hard. He’s like Rob (Quaintance) in some ways. You almost have to force them to be verbal. The thing is, he’s a likely future captain.”

On a team loaded with veterans, Franklin gradually has made his impact. He said burying a couple of early 3-pointers against Butler built his confidence. He’s scored in double figures in four of the past five games.

As his numbers have gone up, he’s started driving more to the basket.

“I had to be more aggressive,” Franklin said. “Adam (Liddell) is out. I had to pick up the scoring. It has worked out for us.”

When Balza and his assistants told Franklin that his scoring was needed more with Liddell out, “he responded, ‘OK, whatever you want me to do,’ ’’ Balza said. “That’s what we like.”

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