A highly regarded recruiter and technician, Jerome Francis Jr. returns for his second season on the Husker sideline in 2006-07. A former Division I head coach, Francis joined the NU staff in June 2005 as an assistant coach.
Francis owns an extensive coaching background and provides the Huskers with valuable knowledge and leadership both on and off the court. He has an aggressive, physcial coaching style that is a perfect fit for the Huskers and within the Big 12 Conference.
Francis worked with the post players in his first year in Lincoln. His star pupil with the Huskers has been Aleks Maric, who enters 2006-07 as one of the top centers in the Big 12 Conference and will likely contend for all-conference honors as a junior.
Under Francis' guidance, Maric blossomed as a sophomore in 2005-06 when he posted 10 double-doubles, including a league-best seven double-doubles in Big 12 play. Maric also ranked third in the conference in rebounding ? first in conference-only games ? while finishing one rebound shy of the Nebraska single-season top-10 list. His 251 rebounds were the second-highest total ever by a Husker sophomore.
Maric's improved play under Francis helped the Huskers to 19 wins, including a pair of victories at the Big 12 Conference Championship. Nebraska also earned its second postseason berth in three years and posted a third straight winning regular-season record in 2005-06.
Francis came to Lincoln following a three-year stint when he served as a Division I head coach. Francis began his first head coaching position in 2002 when he took over the program at Prairie View A&M University.
Francis was named the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Coach of the Year for the 2002-03 season after guiding the Panthers to a 17-12 record, including a regular-season league title with a 14-4 mark. It was PVAMU’s first conference title since 1962, which helped Francis to be named National Rookie Coach of the Year by collegeinsider.com. Francis led Prairie View A&M to a 29-55 record in three seasons with players earning eight all-league honors.
Francis’ first coaching position came in 1992 when he was an assistant at Bowling Green State University. Francis went on to spend one season on Collier’s staff at Butler (1993-94), helping the Bulldogs to a 16-13 mark and a second-place finish in the Midwest Collegiate Conference standings.
Francis then returned to his alma mater where he was an assistant coach for three seasons (1994-95 to 1996-97) before ending up at Ball State for three years (1997-98 to 1999-2000). Francis then spent two seasons (2000-01 and 2001-02) at the University of Houston before taking over the Panther’s head coaching position.
A four-year starter and team co-captain in 1989, Francis ranks among the Buckeye’s all-time leaders in games played (133), games started (126) and points (1,486), as well as assists and steals. Francis helped OSU to at least 19 wins and a postseason berth each of his four seasons, including a 19-14 mark as a freshman in 1986 when the Buckeyes won the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) title.
Francis graduated from The Ohio State University in 1991 with a degree in education. He has two daughters, Je'rel and Jaren, and a son, Jeremiah.