Frank Sillmon (born December 19, 1965) is an American former basketball player. He is best known for his brief collegiate career at

Alabama State University Alabama State University (ASU) is a public historically black university in Montgomery, Alabama. Founded in 1867, ASU is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. History Alabama State University was founded in 1867 as the Lin ...

, where as a

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...

in 1985–86 he was named the Southwestern Athletic Conference Player of the Year. A native of

Talladega, Alabama Talladega (, also ) is the county seat of Talladega County, Alabama, United States. It was incorporated in 1835. At the 2020 census, the population was 15,861. Talladega is approximately east of one of the state’s biggest cities, Birmingham. ...

, Sillmon attended Talladega County Training School during his prep years. On February 7, 1984, he scored 51 points in a game against Woodland High School. That year—his

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

season—he was named the state's "1A Player of the Year" by the Alabama Sports Writers Association. After his successful high school career, Sillmon enrolled at Alabama State in 1984. He spent his first two college seasons playing for the

Hornets Hornets (insects in the genus ''Vespa'') are the largest of the eusocial wasps, and are similar in appearance to their close relatives yellowjackets. Some species can reach up to in length. They are distinguished from other vespine wasps by th ...

, and in 1985–86 he was named the SWAC Player of the Year. Sillmon led the conference with a 20.3 points per game average and narrowly edged Jeff Hart of

Jackson State Jackson State University (Jackson State or JSU) is a public historically black research university in Jackson, Mississippi. It is one of the largest HBCUs in the United States and the fourth largest university in Mississippi in terms of studen ...

by one vote for the honor. After two seasons, Sillmon decided to transfer. After sitting out the 1986–87 season due to

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

transfer eligibility rules, his career at

Alabama A&M Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University (Alabama A&M) is a public historically black land-grant university in Normal, Huntsville, Alabama. Founded in 1875, it took its present name in 1969. AAMU is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshal ...

began as a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

in 1987–88. In his only two years playing for the Bulldogs, his teams won 55 games and only lost 9. He led them in scoring both seasons (20.6, 23.0 respectively), and as a senior in 1988–89 he set Alabama A&M records for total points in a season (736) and per game (23.0). In the 2009 book, ''ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia'', Sillmon was named one of the five greatest players in A&M program history. Sillmon played professionally in Finland after college but never made it to the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sillmon, Frank 1965 births Living people Alabama A&M Bulldogs basketball players Alabama State Hornets basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Finland Basketball players from Alabama American men's basketball players People from Talladega, Alabama Sioux Falls Skyforce (CBA) players Small forwards