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Beckie Francis

Position: Head Coach Experience: 12th Season Alma Mater: Colgate, '87

Beckie Francis recently concluded her 12th season as the head women's basketball coach at Oakland University. In her time at OU, Francis has posted five 20-win seasons and advanced to the league championhip game seven times.

Francis earned her 200th win as OU head coach at South Dakota State. She boasts a career record of 218-142 at Oakland and ranks second all-time in career wins at OU. A two-time Summit League Coach of the Year, Francis ranks third with a .687 winning percentage in league play.

Oakland has advanced to the NCAA Tournament twice under Francis, in 2002 and 2006. Francis has taken Oakland to the postseason in four of her last eight seasons as head coach. During her tenure, the Golden Grizzlies have raised five championship banners, three regular season titles (2000, '01, '07) and two tournament wins (2002, '06).

After leading Oakland through the transition from Division II to Division I, Francis won the league regular season title in Oakland's first season of full eligibility. Soon after she led the team to its first NCAA tournament berth in 2002.

After a brief sabbatical from coaching, Francis returned and immediately led the Golden Grizzlies back to the Big Dance in the 2006 season. In 2007 Francis' OU squad won the school's third regular season title and advanced to the WNIT for the first time. Oakland went back to the postseason two years later in the 2009 WNIT.

Every four year player that has played for Francis has participated in some form of NCAA postseason. In just nine seasons of eligibility, she has led Oakland to seven Summit League Championship title games.

The Oakland teams have also experienced a great deal of success away from the court under Francis' direction. In addition to numerous community outreach and volunteer projects, the OU team has also made the WBCA Academic Top 25 Honor Roll for six consecutive seasons since Francis' return.

Over the past four years Francis has constantly improved Oakland's Academic Progress Rate (APR). The team posted a perfect score of 1000 for the 2009-10 academic season, the second perfect score for OU in the previous four years. The team now has a multiyear APR of 991, which ranks in the top-20 percentile among women's NCAA Division I teams.

Francis has also been honored individually as a role model for young women. She was an honored guest and recognized as an Esteemed Woman of Michigan in 2010.

The 2010-11 season saw Oakland advance to The Summit League Championship game for the fourth time in the past six seasons. Battling through injuries, the Golden Grizzlies upended No. 1 seed Oral Roberts 96-62 in The Summit League Tournament semifinal; the most lopsided win of any No. 4 seed in a semifinal in league history. OU posted a 12-6 record in league play and finished tied for third in the league standings. The Golden Grizzlies recorded non-conference wins over Illinois and Clemson to set a school record for the most victories over opponents from BCS conferences.

Throughout her 11-year career with Oakland, Francis has mentored two Kodak All-Americans in Sarah Judd and Katie Wolfe, and 16 All-Conference players--several of whom have garnered multiple mentions among the conference elite--including one of just two players in league history to be voted first-team All-Conference four times in Wolfe.

Francis has now led two teams through successful transition processes. In addition to her work at Oakland, where she won the league regular season title in her first year of eligibility, Francis also guided Stony Brook (N.Y.) through a successful transition from the NCAA Division III level to Division II. Francis coached the Seawolves for three years making it to the conference tournament in her final season.

Before her first head coaching job at Stony Brook, Francis served as the top assistant coach at the University of Buffalo for four seasons. Francis's duties with Buffalo included coordinating recruiting and counseling of the Bulls' student athletes. Working with Buffalo was Francis' first experience with a team in transition, as she helped take the Bulls from DII to DI. The Bulls captured two East Coast Conference championships in Francis' four years with the program, winning their first one in 1991-92, their first campaign as a DI school.

In addition to her on-court duties with Oakland, Francis hosts several basketball camps throughout the summer. She also is an advisor for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at OU, and in the summer of 2006 Francis was tabbed by Athletes in Action to coach a team in France. The seven-member squad, which included Golden Grizzlies Bonnie Baker ('07) and Jessica Pike, spent seven days in Dunquerque and posted a 4-0 record.

Francis and her husband, Dr. Gary Russi, live in Rochester, Mich.