Courtesy of W&L Sports Information

Andrew Franz, a junior from Charlotte, N.C., scored a career high of 34 points for the W&L Men’s Basketball team in an 89-74 loss to William Peace last Sunday. Franz shot 13 of 20 from the floor, went three of eight from behind the arc and buried five of his six free-throws. He also earned nine rebounds and three assists. Franz took some time out of his busy schedule to go “on the record” with the Phi.

What do you do to prepare yourself pre-game?

AF: “One pregame tradition that I have is the process of deciding which socks to wear with Darren Douglas. We like to mismatch our socks and wear colorful unconventional socks in games. I also come up with a pregame high five routine with Clay McClean for starting line ups… The final thing that I do right before the game during the national anthem is just think how lucky I am to get to play another basketball game and how fun it is to be able to play. Then I go out and play the game.”

What’s your favorite basketball memory?

AF: “My favorite college basketball memory is between beating Virginia Wesleyan at home my freshman year, and beating Guilford and Randolph last year in the ODAC tournament. Those games just were a culmination of hard work and letting that hard work and focus pay off on the court so they are my favorite college basketball memories. My favorite basketball memory of all time has to be winning the state championship in high school with a really talented high school team. It was my senior year and my high school (Ravenscroft) was hosting the state tournament that year. It was our goal my entire high school career to win the state championship, and winning it in front of our home crowd for the first time in 32 years was amazing.”

Where is the coolest place you’ve been to play ball?

AF: “In high school, after winning the state championship we were chosen to play in the National High school Invitational put on by ESPN in DC… In college, the coolest place I have played is in Hinkle Fieldhouse on Butler’s campus. Last year during Christmas we had a road trip up to Chicago to play University of Chicago and on the way we stopped at Butler to practice in Hinkle. If you don’t know, this is where the state championship in the movie Hoosiers is played, and it is holy ground for all basketball players.”

Do you have a favorite athlete?

AF:“My favorite non-basketball athlete is Cristiano Ronaldo because he has so much swag and is so highlight prone. I also think it is funny and entertaining how he is cocky but gets away with it because he is so good. My favorite basketball athlete is Stephen Curry… After watching his miraculous performance in [the NCAA] tournament, he was my favorite player and still is.”

Besides basketball, what do you like to do for fun?

AF: “When I am not playing basketball, I like to watch sports with friends. I also like to just hang out and like we call it in my fraternity have “couch time” where any one that is not busy sit and talk about a very wide range of topics. I also like playing video games. FIFA is by far my favorite; in the most humble way possible… I am nearly unbeatable.”