The secret to success for new Hurricanes running back commit Thad Franklin? Basketball
It was evident quickly Thad Franklin was in line for some sort of memorable game.
Part of it is because Dameon Jones always knows the running back is going to come up big when Chaminade-Madonna needs him to the most. Part of it was just because of how he started the Class 3A championship against Tallahassee Florida State University last year.
He carried the ball on the eight of the first 12 plays of the game to set the Lions up in field-goal range on the opening drive. They never trailed on their way to a 35-20 win in Tallahassee.
In all, he ran the ball 47 times for 333 yards, which set a new record for Florida High School Athletic Association championships. He scored all five touchdowns to help Chaminade-Madonna win a third straight state title.
“It was one of those deals where they knew he was getting the ball, they knew they had to stop him and they couldn’t,” Jones said after Franklin committed. “He knew this was a big-time game, state championship was on the line and he was just like, ‘Coach, ride me if you have to ride me.’”
He was orally committed to the Miami Hurricanes at the time, but decommitted a few days later. Last Tuesday, the four-star running back rejoined Miami’s Class of 2021, committing to the Hurricanes once again.
While Franklin can’t sign a national letter of intent until December, Franklin’s commitment gives Miami the inside track to continue dominating running backs recruiting in South Florida.
In the Class of 2020, the Hurricanes signed four-star running backs Jaylan Knighton and Donald Chaney Jr., the top ranked running backs in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, respectively.
Franklin, the No. 11 running back in the 247Sports.com composite rankings for the 2021 recruiting class, is far and away the top tailback in Broward County for the 2021 recruiting cycle and currently the top-ranked player in the Hurricanes’ 2021 class.
Ultimately, Franklin spent just a little more than two months back on the market before opting once again to stay close to home after he visited both Miami and the South Carolina Gamecocks for junior days in January.
“He wanted to see what was out there and make sure he was making the right choice,” Jones said. “He liked Miami.”
Jones has watched Franklin closely since the halfback joined the Lions when he was in eighth grade.
As a freshman in 2017, it was immediately obvious Franklin was a rising star when he ran for 495 yards and five touchdowns on just 30 carries. He became Chaminade-Madonna’s No. 1 back as a sophomore in 2018 and ran for 1,602 yards, committing to the Hurricanes in the middle of the season.
Last year, he made a case as the best running back in Broward, regardless of age, running for 2,282 yards and 28 touchdowns on 288 carries, and he did it by doing more than just leaning on his bruising 6-foot, 215-pound frame.
Jones credits Franklin’s success in part to the junior’s basketball background. Franklin would be just fine leaning on his size to run straight and break tackles, but he has always had good lateral ability for his size and the sort of vision players can only develop on the court.
“He’s just not a downhill runner. He can go downhill, he can go laterally and that’s what separates him from a lot of backs is he’s able to see holes and quickly hit it because he’s a basketball player,” the Lions coach said. “He’s played basketball all his life — AAU and everything.”
Pair it with his now-undeniable knack for stepping up in his biggest games and Franklin is exactly the sort of player Miami just can’t let slip out of its backyard.
“He don’t care about being a workhorse. He’s just one of those kids he just knows if you need him he’s there, you know?” Jones said. “In big games, he wants to perform.”
