Greg Francis (born April 4, 1974 in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

) is the head coach of the

UOIT Ridgebacks The Ontario Tech Ridgebacks are the athletic teams that represent Ontario Tech University in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. The Ridgebacks have been competing in Ontario University Athletics since 2006 and have been a member of U Sports since 2008. Th ...

men's basketball team, as well as the manager of men's high performance at

Canada Basketball Canada Basketball (CB) is a non-profit organization and the governing body for basketball in Canada. ...

. He was previously the head coach of the

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a public research university with a main campus in Waterloo, Ontario Waterloo is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of three cities in the Regional Municipality ...

Warriors men's basketball team and the head coach of the University of

Alberta Golden Bears The Alberta Golden Bears and Pandas are the sports teams that represent the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Alberta athletics teams have won a total of 93 national championships, including 79 U Sports sanctioned sports, making ...

, where he replaced coach Don Horwood, who manned the Bears bench for 26 seasons. Francis was also the head coach of the Canadian junior men’s national team, assistant coach of the Canadian senior men's national team and the Canadian men's basketball national coach. Francis was a member of the

Canadian National men's basketball team The Canadian men's national basketball team represents Canada in international basketball competitions since 1923. They are overseen by Canada Basketball, the governing body of basketball in Canada. The team's head coach is Nick Nurse and its g ...

, that finished seventh in the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...

and fourth at the

2003 Tournament of the Americas The 2003 Tournament of the Americas in basketball, later known as the FIBA Americas Championship and the FIBA AmeriCup (also known as Las Americas Tournament for Men, FIBA Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament, or Panamerican Olympic Qualifying T ...

Collegiate career

Francis played for the

Fairfield University Fairfield University is a private Jesuit university in Fairfield, Connecticut. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1942. In 2017, the university had about 4,100 full-time undergraduate students and 1,100 graduate students, including full-time ...

basketball team from 1994 to 1997, finishing his career with 1,570 points, ranking fifth all-time at the school. He also holds the school record for most three-point baskets made in a career with 230. During his senior season, he helped lead the Stags to the

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC, ) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I. Of its current 11 full members, 10 are located in three states of the northeastern United States: Connecticut, New Jersey, and N ...

title and the

1997 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 1997 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 13, 1997, and ended with the champion ...

. He almost single-handedly upset the

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to individuals from the state of North Carolina, the ''Tar Heel ...

in the first round of the tournament scoring 26 points including eight three-pointers. Following the game, North Carolina coach

Dean Smith Dean Edwards Smith (February 28, 1931 – February 7, 2015) was an American men's college basketball head coach. Called a "coaching legend" by the Basketball Hall of Fame, he coached for 36 years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hi ...

said "I had to find Francis after the game but I couldn't shake his hand because it was so hot." Fairfield recognized his accomplishments in 2003 when the school inducted Francis into its Athletic Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Francis played professionally in the

British Basketball League The British Basketball League (BBL) is a men's professional basketball league in Great Britain and represents the highest level of play in the countries. The league is contested by 10 teams from England and Scotland. There are no clubs howeve ...

for the

Worthing Bears Brighton Bears was a British basketball team based in Brighton, Sussex. From 1984 to 1999 the club was known as the Worthing Bears and was based in the town of Worthing, 12 miles west of Brighton. The Bears played in the top-flight British Bas ...

and was selected to the UK All-Star Team during the 1997-98 season and the

Chester Jets The Cheshire Phoenix are a professional basketball team based in Ellesmere Port, England. Founded in 1984, they are members of the British Basketball League and play their home games at the Cheshire Oaks Arena. From 1993 until 2015 the team was ...

during the 1999-00 season.

External links

Team Canada ProfileAlberta Golden Bears Profile

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Francis, Greg 1974 births Living people Basketball players from Toronto Basketball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 2003 Pan American Games Black Canadian basketball players Canadian men's basketball coaches Canadian expatriate basketball people in the United States Canadian expatriate sportspeople in England Canadian men's basketball players Cheshire Jets players Fairfield Stags men's basketball players Monmouth Hawks men's basketball coaches Olympic basketball players of Canada Pan American Games competitors for Canada Worthing Bears players 1998 FIBA World Championship players Guards (basketball) Canadian expatriate basketball people in the United Kingdom