Cleveland, OH-Cole Franklin is the newest member of the Cleveland State men's basketball team, Head Coach Daniyal Robinson announced today. Franklin comes to Cleveland State after playing one season at Florida Southwestern College and will have three years of eligibility remaining.
 
"We're excited to announce the addition of Cole Franklin to our roster," said Coach Robinson. "Even though Cole is joining us little later in the semester, this was an opportunity that made sense for everyone involved. I think Cole is really excited to be in this position right now to be enrolling at Cleveland State. Cole is a dynamic guard with a high basketball IQ and incredible intangibles that will allow him to fit seamlessly into our system. He was someone we identified early on this summer and fall from the NJCAA ranks that had the right mix of character, skill, and motor that can really help us down the line. His ability to read the game and make the right play was exactly what we were looking for. We're ecstatic to add Cole to the Viking Family ahead of the upcoming season and look forward to seeing him play in the future."
 
Franklin was a key contributor in his lone season at Florida Southwestern, playing in 24 games with 13 starts. He averaged 9.4 points per game and shot 43 percent from the floor. He pulled down 4.9 rebounds per game as well as 2.4 assists per contest with a 1.3 assist-to-turnover ratio.
 
Franklin originally hails from DeSoto, Texas where he played high school basketball at DeSoto High School. As a senior, he played at Red Rock Academy where he led his team to a top ten national ranking. Franklin also competed for ProSkills on the AAU circuit.
 
He is the son of Gwen and Victor Franklin and has two older brothers, Victor and Chace, who both played college basketball at Jackson State University. His uncle, Greg Buckner, played ten seasons in the NBA and is currently an assistant coach for the Milwaukee Bucks.