Telling the truth

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – North Kansas City coach Chad Valadez doesn't fib.

When he says he has a legitimate Division I prospect, he really does have a solid recruit. That's the case with 6-foot-3, 215-pound athlete Stephen Franklin. Even though he's seemingly overshadowed by teammate Jayson Palmgren, Franklin has started to pop up on the recruiting radar and landed his first scholarship offer on Thursday.

"Kansas State was the first to come through with an offer," Valadez said. "They offered both Jayson and Stephen today."

The K-State offer for Palmgren was his fourth, but for Franklin it was his first. And for many people this might be the first time that they've heard about Franklin, but here's a promise – by the time he's done as a senior, he'll be well established as one of the top players in Kansas City.

"What he plays for us isn't what we think he's going to play in college," Valadez said. "He's going to be our single back, where he'll be running as a fullback and a tailback. To me, he's a true H-back/tight end type kid in college. We'll split him out occasionally. Playing at pure tailback is a new position for him, so I don't want to put too much on him.

"He could play any skill position on offense for us next year, except quarterback. Any other skill position, he'll play for us and do it well."

Franklin has the perfect size to project at a number of different positions. While his coach sees him as an offensive player, he does have the ability to play linebacker on defense. As a junior, he earned all-conference honors after rushing for 410 yards on 48 carries. He also had 120 yards receiving and four touchdown catches. On defense he had 64 tackles, four tackles for a loss and two interceptions.

Not too shabby for a kid that thought his future was going to be on the hardwood, not on the gridiron.

"I've always liked football, too, but basketball was the first sport I played," Franklin said. "It's been kind of stressful thinking about a decision to leave one behind, but I think football might be the way to go.

"If you get mad at somebody in football, you can go light them up and they congratulate you for doing it. In basketball if you get mad or frustrated, you really can't go out and take it out on somebody."

Valadez thinks Franklin's athletic ability on the basketball court has allowed him to bring something special to the football field.

"He's got great vision and a college-body right now," Valadez said. "The frame that he has, along with the ability to build, will allow him to carry 225 pounds in the college level. He'll be able to keep his ability and quickness in space. For a big man he's got great feet. He's physical at the point of attack.

As far as in space for a big man, he moves great. I think a lot of that is attributed to him being a basketball player. He also plays inside linebacker for us, and he's a kid that will have a lot of contact during the game, and that's something he's getting a lot better at."

Franklin admits he's been blessed with some amazing athletic ability, but he thinks it is his leadership qualities that separate him from others.

"I think I have a great ability to pick others up when they're not doing so well," Franklin said. "If they make a mistake or are down on themselves, I feel like it's my job to pick them up. I think I help bring up the level of the team. If I have to make a play, or if I have to go and talk to somebody, I'll do it. I think I just have the ability to raise emotions."

Or run over or around people.

"I'm physical when I run," Franklin said. "I know I'm going to be the one that brings the contact. I don't want people to get hyped up about knocking me down. I'm a pretty big guy running the ball, and the little guys might get hyped making the tackle. I need to let them know I'm going to be the one bringing it to them all night long, whether it's running or on defense.

"I like hitting people. I like the mental focus that offense takes. If one guy misses a block the whole play can blow up. But on defense, I just like the emotion it has. You can just go out there and play. I have to get the ball no matter what. If you miss your gap you can still make the play."

When it comes to recruiting, Franklin admits he's still a novice.

The K-State offer was quite impressive, he said, plus he's been talking quite a bit with other schools. He went to Missouri's junior day recently, was invited to KU's junior day and Clemson has also been sending quite a bit of mail.

"All of this is an inspiration to make me work harder," he said. "In my mind, I thought I had an average season at best as far as numbers go, but I'm getting a lot of attention, so it's just inspiration. If I had a season like that and this is what I'm getting, what could happen if I play up to my full potential?"

"I grew up a KU fan and they won the national championship in 1988 when I was born. But I'm not really locked in to anybody with recruiting. I can't have a bias right now because I want somebody to pay for my school, and I want it to be the right fit."