FRANKLIN NAMED NJCAA 3RD-TEAM ALL-AMERICAN

CLICK FOR ENTIRE 2023 NJCAA DIVISION I ALL-AMERICA TEAM

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

Hutchinson Community College freshman guard Aaron Franklin became the 36th player in Blue Dragon men's basketball history to be named to the NJCAA Division I All-America team.

Franklin was named to the third team of the 2023 class of NJCAA All-Americans on Tuesday. The inclusion of Hutchinson's 6-foot-5 freshman from Kansas City, Missouri marks the third-straight season and the ninth in the last 10 seasons that at least one Blue Dragon has been named All-American.

This past season, Franklin was Hutchinson's and the Jayhawk Conference's leading scorer at 22.0 points per game. That tied for the 10th-best scoring average in the nation in 2022-23.

Scoring 703 points and knocking down 80 3-point goals this season, Franklin helped the 2022-23 Blue Dragon set a school record for season scoring average at 97.2 points per game and break the Hutchinson team season 3-point record with 245 made 3-pointers this season.

Franklin shot 49.3 percent overall from the field (282 of 572), was 80 of 244 from 3-point range (32.8 percent) and 59 of 94 from the free-throw line (62.8 percent). Franklin also averaged a team-high 8.2 rebounds per game with a team-high 60 steals and 72 assists.

The Blue Dragon guard, who missed most of the 2021-22 season because of injuries, scored in double figures in all 32 games, including 19 games of 20 or more points and five games of 30 or more points. Franklin's season high was 38 points scored against Pratt on January 25 at the Sports Arena. Franklin posted 10 double-doubles, including a 25-point, 18 rebound performance against Seward County on January 7 at the Sports Arena.

Last month, Franklin was named the KJCCC's Freshman of the Year and was a first-team All-KJCCC and first-team All-Region VI selection.

Franklin became just the 12th Blue Dragon ever to reach the 700-point plateau in a season. His 22.0-point scoring average tied Tony Arrington for ninth in team history. Franklin's 80 3-pointers are third most in Blue Dragon single-season history and his 282 total field goals are 10th in team history.

Franklin is the second-straight Blue Dragon to lead the KJCCC in scoring – last season Angelo Stuart was the Jayhawk's leading scorer. Franklin also led the KJCCC with 116 offensive rebounds and 282 field goals. He was fifth in 3-pointers and 10th in the league with 55 steals.

Franklin is one of six freshmen on this year's All-America team. He is also one of three players from the Jayhawk Conference on the teams – Dodge City's Jason Edwards is on the first team and Garden City's Buru Naivalurua is on the second team.