HCA: Robert Franks named Pac-12 and Naismith Trophy Player of the Week

Washington State Cougars senior forward Robert Franks helped lead his team (10-14 overall, 3-8 Pac-12) to their first road sweep in Arizona since 2007 over the weekend. On Monday, he was announced as the Pac-12 and the Naismith Trophy Player of the Week. He also received recognition from the NCAA as Andy Katz’ player of the week as well.

Franks shot 65 percent and went 22 of 34 from the field, 12 of 18 from deep, and 9 of 9 from the line to average 32.5 points in the two games. He also averaged 10.5 rebounds, 2.5 blocks, 2 assists and 2 steals over in the two games. He tied his career high in points against the Sun Devils with 34 and the two games bumped up his season average to 22.2 points per game which leads the conference.

The Cougars had back to back impressive wins over both of the Arizona schools as they started with a 91-70 win over Arizona State (16-7, 7-4) on Thursday and then two days later beat Arizona (14-10, 5-6) 69-55. The two victories are the Cougars’ only wins on the road this season and were their second and third wins over conference opponents in a rough season.

Franks is the first Cougar basketball player to earn Pac-12 Player of the Week honors since Josh Hawkinson did so in December of 2015.

The Cougars will need more of Franks’ magic this upcoming Saturday as they host the Washington Huskies, whose only loss in conference play came to Arizona State on Saturday. They will then play 4 of their final 6 games in Pullman to finish off the season.

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Basketball:

Robert Franks grabs weekly awards from NCAA, Pac-12 after leading Washington State to road sweep | The Spokesman-Review
The Pac-12 award is handed out weekly throughout the three-month long regular season, but it’d been more than three years since a WSU player was recognized. Franks became the first since former Cougar forward Josh Hawkinson was honored in 2015.

Franks Adds National Honors Following Career Week - Washington State University Athletics
Robert Franks has been named the Citizen Naismith Player of the Week.

College basketball rankings: Tennessee, Duke hold top spots, Kansas State makes big leap in Andy Katz's Power 36 | NCAA.com
Tennessee is playing the best basketball in the country and Duke's NCAA tournament resume is second to none. That's how Andy Katz sees it in his just-released power rankings of the top 36 college basketball teams in the country.

Golf:

Men’s golf sits in fourth after first day of Anteater Invitational – The Daily Evergreen
WSU men’s golf sits in fourth place after the first day action Monday at the Anteater Invitational in Newport Beach, California. The Cougars concluded the first round of play with a team score of 302 before second round action was suspended due to darkness. “It was good to get back in the swing of things,”...