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Men's Basketball SIgns Local Product Cole Franklin
5/16/2025 3:32:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The 6-foot-4 DeSoto native was a 2023 McDonald's All-American Nominee and comes to the Mean Green from Cleveland State where he played for Daniyal Robinson who was hired to be North Texas' head coach on April 4.
"We are ecstatic to welcome Cole to the Mean Green family," Robinson said. "Cole brings great versatility to our wing position and is a tough, hard-nosed defender who plays with physicality. He has a knack for getting to the basket and making plays both for himself and his teammates. Basketball runs deep in Cole's family. His uncle played in the NBA, both of his older brothers played at the college level and one now coaching in the NBA. A proud DeSoto native, Cole is excited to return home and compete in front of his family and community. We're thrilled to have Cole join our program and can't wait to see his impact."
Last year at CSU, Franklin played through an early season broken hand and still saw action in 25 games. He finished the season averaging 4.0 points, 2.6 rebounds and nearly one steal per game.
Franklin was averaging 7.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game before breaking his hand and had started six games.
Franklin missed nearly two months of the season before returning and once back on the floor found ways to impact winning. In the Horizon League Tournament, he helped lead the Vikings to a 68-63 win over Northern Kentucky with eight rebounds in 14 minutes off the bench. It was a season high in boards for the guard.
Franklin began his college career at Florida Southwestern State where he helped lead the Bucs to 22 wins. Franklin averaged 9.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game as a freshman for his junior college team. He had 12 double digit scoring games that year, including two against nationally ranked opponents. He had 15 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in a four-point win over No. 19 Eastern Florida.
The guard prepped at Red Rock Academy in Las Vegas where his team was ranked 10 in the nation in 2023. He played with ProSkills on the AAU circuit and was teammates with future NBA draft picks Keyonte George and Jordan Walsh.
Franklin held offers coming out of junior college from Robert Morris, SIU Edwardsville, Commerce and Milwaukee in addition to Cleveland State and others. His uncle is former Dallas Mavericks guard and 10-year NBA pro Greg Buckner who currently serves as an assistant coach on Doc Rivers' staff with the Milwaukee Bucks.
For more information on UNT Basketball tickets, contact the Mean Green Ticket Office at 940-565-2527 or at ticketoffice@unt.edu. Fans can purchase tickets at www.meangreentickets.com or visit the UNT Athletics Ticket Office located at Gate 2 of DATCU Stadium between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
