From the Streets of Sevran to the Top of European Basketball: The Journey of Sylvain Francisco

On hot, humid summer days in Sevran, France, people like to sleep with their windows open. This is also the case with the Francisco family, where Sylvain grows up in a small apartment with eight siblings. Actually nothing special, but the dribbling of basketballs can be heard in the bedrooms of the residents at the crack of dawn.

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“In the summer I got up with my brother at 4 a.m. and went out the door to the outdoor area. My everyday life was actually always the same: get up, play basketball, then go to school and then go back to basketball or soccer.”

Doing sports wasn’t a bad idea in Sevran, which is one of the most dangerous cities in Department 93 and therefore in the whole of France. “Sevran is a city that you definitely don’t visit if you’re not from there.

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As a stranger, the risk of being attacked or robbed is quite high,” recalls Francisco, who has been hunting for points for the FC Bayern basketball team since 2023 and was once again the top scorer in the league win against Braunschweig, in an interview with BIG his time as a student there.

Either sport or deal

“Shootings and pepper spray attacks were almost part of everyday life. After getting up, you would regularly see up to 20 police cars and police officers trying to sort things out. There were really only two options there: either you do sports or you sell drugs.”

Sylvain, who was also a good soccer player, chose the sport: basketball. On the outdoor court right in front of his front door, he played every day alongside his big brother, who would later also play at college in the USA.

“We then played games with the people outside, a lot of one-on-one play, which is certainly reflected in my game today,” grins the Frenchman. “I grew up with Allen Iverson and the And1 mixtapes: getting into the NBA at some point was my big motivation as a teenager.”

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Francisco is self-taught

He taught all of his skills himself; Francisco didn’t play in a club for a long time, even if he would have liked to. “As a teenager, I often auditioned for the big clubs with renowned youth programs and took part in all the tryouts. And I thought I was really good, but no club wanted me. It was always said that my game was too American and that I was too small as a player.”

The playmaker is listed today at 1.85 meters, a height that should certainly not be an exclusion criterion. Perhaps it was his stubbornness that got in the way when he was younger – because Francisco, as he himself admits, was not prepared to change his game.

“It was just the ball, the basket and me,” he laughs today. “I could play, but I couldn’t pass. I only learned that later from more experienced players.”

Breakthrough in Miami

Since Francisco’s big brother was now playing at college in the USA, he always had the opportunity to travel to America as a teenager. Where he should fit in wonderfully with the American style of play confirmed by the youth coaches in France.

“First I was in Phoenix. “But I didn’t like it there that much,” the 26-year-old looks back. “I then took a detour to Orlando and Miami, where I was ultimately able to play in a high school league.”

Some colleges, including Arkansas and Massachusetts, show interest in Francisco, but the jump fails because his grades are too poor. “Average grades from the previous high school years are calculated there. These were simply not good enough for me, as I kept returning to France, especially in my first two years.”

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Detour via France

So Francisco had no choice but to bury his dream of college and the NBA and go back to France, where he was able to sign a professional contract with Boulogne-Levallois.

No college, no NBA, but still. After a mediocre season with an average of 3.5 points and a field shooting percentage of a meager 26.5 percent, Francisco had problems with the coach and was without a contract for three months in the summer.

“In general, my image was bad,” says Francisco today. “I was considered stubborn, a bit crazy and uncoachable. In my opinion, that wasn’t true – but when your coach perceives you that way, your public image quickly deteriorates.”

During this time, his parents encourage him to do something decent, but Francisco wouldn’t be Francisco without his stubbornness. “I worked on my game in a hall from morning until after midnight, which paid off,” he says about his next career step.

Changing agents is fruitful

At the ambitious club Paris Basketball, now Tuomas Iisalo’s team, the playmaker ultimately ends up in the second division. He increased his statistical values ​​initially to 9.7, then to 13.0 points per game and is recommended for a second attempt in the French first division.

At Roanne he showed his potential with 14.7 points and 4.7 assists, which – after his agent changed for the second time – earned him a position in Spain at BAXI Manresa.

In the ACB he increased his hit rate from the field to over 40 percent and completely unexpectedly reached the final of the Basketball Champions League with the club from Catalonia.

Sylvian Francisco with the cup and the MVP trophy

“Spanoulis like a brother”

His new player agent Misko Raznatovic finally places Francisco with EuroLeague legend Vassilis Spanoulis and his first coaching position in Peristeri.

A change that allowed Francisco to mature as a player: “Spanoulis was my coach, but he was also like a brother to me. He always had my back, probably because he was also a great player himself. He supported me specifically, in training, in the video sessions, in the games.”

The Greek basketball legend lets his playmaker on the floor for an average of 27 minutes per game – and he repays the trust with good performances. Francisco even surprisingly led the team to the final of the Greek Cup in 2023.

Francisco promptly showed his penchant for cup games in Munich. In the Final Four for the BBL Cup, the point guard was named MVP and contributed significantly to Bayern’s triumph as the top scorer in the final against Ulm (81:65).

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2024-04-11 08:06:30
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