Beckie Francis
| Sport(s) | Women's basketball |
|---|---|
| Current position | |
| Title | Head coach |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | March 31, 1965 |
| Playing career | |
| Colgate | |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1994–1997 | Stoney Brook |
| 1997–2002, 2005–2013 | Oakland |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 257–210 (.550) |
Beckie Sue Francis (born March 31, 1965) is a basketball coach, most recently head coach of Oakland University's Golden Grizzlies women's basketball team. At Oakland, she compiled a 227–162 (.584) record, and has a 257–210 (.550) career head coaching record. She coached two Kodak All-Americans and 11 all-conference players during her tenure. Francis led Oakland to three consecutive postseason appearances, with two NCAA tournament bids and one WNIT appearance. She was terminated by Oakland, with cause, on the same day her husband retired as president of the university, because she was alleged to have mentally and emotionally abused her players, become obsessed with her players eating habits and body weights, and refused to separate her religion from coaching.[1] Francis has denied each of these allegations.[2]
Francis played college basketball at Colgate University where she was a four-year starter and three-time team captain.[3] She was an assistant coach at the University at Buffalo for four years. From 1994–1996, she was the head coach at Stony Brook University, then a NCAA Division II program, where she compiled a 30–48 record. Oakland hired Francis as the program was making the transition from Division II to Division I.
Francis coached at Oakland from 1997–2013, taking a three-year sabbatical from coaching for health reasons between the 2001–2002 and 2005–2006 seasons.[4] Her teams won the conference tournament championship twice, and the conference regular season championship three times. The 2006 season where the Grizzlies went 19–13, featured a school record 12-game winning streak. She earned her second conference coach of the year award during the 2006 season. At the time of her hiring at Oakland on July 1, 1997, her salary was $50,000; by July 1, 2012 it had been increased to $126,381 along with a 15% performance bonus totaling $15,703.[4][5] Her players did well academically, earning her teams high marks in the NCAA's Academic Progress Rate. Francis' teams placed in the WBCA Top-25 for team GPA Nationally for six consecutive seasons from the 2007-08 season through the 2012-13 season.[3][6]
In 1999, Francis married then-president of Oakland University, Gary Russi.[4] Francis was fired with cause in June 2013, hours after her husband retired as Oakland president.[7] The school released a statement at the time that said an investigation had begun in April after concerns about her conduct and behavior and that she had been terminated with cause.[4] A July 2013 report by the Detroit Free Press, interviewing 15 former players and others close to the program, noted common complaints that Francis had fixated on their weight, pushed her particular views of Christianity, used intimidation and emotional abuse.[3]
In October 2012, Francis revealed in an interview with the Associated Press that she had been sexually abused by her father between the ages of 4 and 13. That winter she testified before the education committee of the Michigan House of Representatives and later lobbied representatives in support of Erin's Law, bipartisan legislation allowing schools to educate students about sexual abuse. For her work in this area she received national acclaim, and in April 2013, during the NCAA women's Final Four, she was the recipient of the Pat Summitt Most Courageous Award, given by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, for demonstrating "extraordinary courage while facing adversity in life."[3]
Head coaching record
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stony Brook University (Division III Independent) (1994–1995) | |||||||||
| 1994–1995 | Stony Brook | 13–12 | |||||||
| Stony Brook University (NECC) (1994–1997) | |||||||||
| 1995–1996 | Stony Brook | 7–19 | 5–15 | ||||||
| 1996–1997 | Stony Brook | 10–17 | 6–12 | ||||||
| Stony Brook: | 30–48 | 11–27 | |||||||
| Oakland (Division I Independent) (1997–1999) | |||||||||
| 1997–1998 | Oakland | 20–7 | — | — | |||||
| 1998–1999 | Oakland | 14–13 | — | — | |||||
| Oakland (The Summit League) (1999–2013) | |||||||||
| 1999–2000 | Oakland | 19–10 | 13–3 | 1st | |||||
| 2000–2001 | Oakland | 20–10 | 12–4 | 1st | |||||
| 2001–2002 | Oakland | 17–14 | 8–6 | T-2nd | NCAA first round | ||||
| 2005–2006 | Oakland | 15–16 | 8–8 | T-5th | NCAA first round | ||||
| 2006–2007 | Oakland | 19–13 | 12–2 | 1st | WNIT first round | ||||
| 2007–2008 | Oakland | 20–10 | 12–6 | T-2nd | |||||
| 2008–2009 | Oakland | 26–7 | 16–2 | 2nd | WNIT first round | ||||
| 2009–2010 | Oakland | 17–13 | 14–4 | T-2nd | |||||
| 2010–2011 | Oakland | 20–12 | 12–6 | T-3rd | |||||
| 2011–2012 | Oakland | 11–17 | 7–11 | T-6th | |||||
| 2012–2013 | Oakland | 9–20 | 3–13 | 9th | |||||
| Oakland: | 227–162 | 117–65 | |||||||
| Total: | 257–210 | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
References
- ↑ Jesse, David (November 11, 2013). "Oakland says Beckie Francis fired for mentally abusing players". USA Today. Retrieved November 27, 2013.
- ↑ Chengelis, Angelique (December 23, 2013). "Fired Oakland U women's basketball coach denies player allegations". The Detroit News. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
- 1 2 3 4 McCabe, Mick; Snyder, Mark (July 21, 2013). "Players say ex-Oakland women's basketball coach Beckie Francis fixated on weight, pushed Christianity, used intimidation". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved July 21, 2013.
- 1 2 3 4 McCabe, Mike (June 21, 2013). "Oakland says Beckie Francis fired with cause". USA Today. Retrieved July 21, 2013.
- ↑ http://www.theoaklandpress.com/general-news/20130623/switching-leagues-means-salary-bump-for-oakland-university-coaches
- ↑ http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/oakl/sports/w-baskbl/auto_pdf/2012-13/release/release_20130307aaa.pdf
- ↑ Snyder, Mark (June 13, 2013). "Oakland fires coach Beckie Francis". USA Today. Retrieved June 13, 2013.