A dead-shot wingman from the Dominican Republic will be the new import of Phoenix in the PBA Governors Cup.
Brandone Francis takes over the spot of Jay McKinnis in the hope of turning things around for the Fuel Masters, who have so far lost all their first three games of the season.
Francis is set to make his league debut on Tuesday when Phoenix battles George King and the Blackwater Bossing in the first game of a doubleheader at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The 29-year-old Francis is scheduled to be measured at the PBA office a few hours before the 5 p.m. game, but management doesn’t see him going over the 6-foot-6 height limit unlike McKinnis’ first replacement Le’ Bryan Nash.
A product of Oklahoma State, the 32-year-old Nash was measured at 6-6 3/8, leaving the Fuel Masters without an import in their last outing against Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, which they lost, 116-99
“Maliit naman siya so good to go naman na ito,” said team manager Paolo Bugia of Francis.
The new import spent time playing for Texas Tech and Florida in college.
While he was undrafted in the NBA, Francis emerged as the no. 1 overall pick by Metros de Santiago in the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto, the top men’s pro league in Dominican Republic.
Outside of his country, Francis also played for the Iowa Wolves in the G. League, Gipuzkoa in Spain, and Prawira Bandung in the Indonesian Basketball League.
He led the Bandung-based club team to the IBL championship in 2023 during which he was also named IBL Foreign Player of the Year.
But in the just conclude IBL season. Francis and Bandung failed to retain their title as they lost to eventual champion Pelita Jaya, powered by Justine Brownlee and KJ McDaniels, via a sweep of the bets-of-three semifinals.
Incidentally, current Terrafirma import Antonio Hester was a teammate of Francis at Bandung.
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