July 10, 2010

MILWAUKEE - University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's basketball standout Ricky Franklin has earned a spot on the Milwaukee Bucks' summer league roster.

The team will play five games in Las Vegas, beginning Monday night against Dallas.

Franklin, a Milwaukee native, worked out twice for the Bucks prior to last month's draft. He was then invited back to the Bucks' training facility late this week and officially received word this afternoon he would make the squad headed west.

Franklin earned All-Horizon League Second Team honors for the Panthers this past season. The point guard started every game, leading UWM in scoring and three-pointers made while standing second in rebounds. In the process, he helped Milwaukee to just the 10th 20-win season in school history.

Immediately after getting word of his spot on the team, Franklin told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he is fired up about the opportunity.

"I'm real excited," Franklin said. "I'm glad I got the opportunity so I want to make the most of it. I think I played real well so I wouldn't say I was surprised. I was just trying to work hard. I listened to everything that they told me, and I worked hard and I made it. It's a great opportunity to showcase my talents in front of a lot of teams and a lot of people. I'm just happy they called me back and I'm blessed to be in this position."

This past season at UWM, Franklin played every minute of a game three times, including all 45 minutes of an overtime win over Wright State in January. He led the league in minutes played and played 37 or more minutes in 13 of 18 regular-season league contests. Franklin had a six-game run in January that saw him make 37 of 70 shots overall, including 21 of 43 from three-point range, while averaging 19.7 points per game. He also posted ten 20-point efforts, including 20 or more in consecutive games from Jan. 16-24.

His career tallies include 125 games and 110 starts. He finished his four seasons with 1,291 points to go with 492 rebounds, 331 assists and 114 steals.

Then, Franklin impressed the Bucks enough to earn a pro opportunity this summer.

"Ricky did good," Bucks assistant coach Jim Boylan told the Journal Sentinel after practice today. "Ricky came in after a day so he was a little bit behind and was always kind of playing catch up. But he had some good moments out here. He shot the ball well and he has a nice, strong, thick body. We just have to get him a little more comfortable with the offense and then I think he'll be able to help us a little bit at the point guard position."