NJIT’s Tariq Francis ready to build on eye-catching freshman year
NJIT’s Tariq Francis ready to build on eye-catching freshman year
"I’m finding the balance between leading as well as learning at the same time," Francis said after winning multiple Rookie of the Year honors last spring.
NEWARK – A 31-point, eight-rebound, zero-turnover game by a college freshman is impressive enough on paper, but to appreciate the full significance of Tariq Francis’ coming-out party, first you have to understand the Goliath known as Vermont basketball.
The Vermont Catamounts have ruled the America East for the better part of the last eight years, winning the conference five times in that span, including three years running. They play serious ball there, especially defensively. Vermont ranked seventh nationally in scoring defense last season (63.0 ppg) and lost only one conference game.
That loss came when Francis heated up on a cold Thursday night in Newark and guided NJIT to a 63-61 stunner. Francis nailed a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 2:10 to go and the Highlanders held Vermont at arm’s length the rest of the way. The freshman shot 5-of-9 from 3-point range, 6-of-10 inside the arc and 4-for-4 at the foul line while leading his team in rebounding to boot.
“I probably felt the most comfortable around conference play,” Francis told me. “Just being able to learn the plays, learn my teammates, learn the coaching staff, learn what the team needed from me. So conference play, I would say, is when I started to really find my role on the team and kind of be able to play my game a little bit more.”
That was one of eight 20-point games Francis recorded in 2023-24. After averaging 14.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists while making 35.2 percent of his threes, he was named Rookie of the Year by both the America East Conference and the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association, the first NJIT player to win either award.
Francis is back for his sophomore season on a young, ambitious NJIT team that will follow his lead as it tries to make some noise in Grant Billmeier’s second season on the job.
“It’s something I want out of him,” Billmeier said of Francis becoming a team leader. “He’s the point guard, he’s the quarterback of the team, so it’s definitely something that we’re gonna need out of him this year.”
Billmeier was hired in April 2023, so roster construction for his first Highlanders team had to take place over the spring and summer. And Francis, though a Pittsburgh native, had plenty of connections to NJIT and New Jersey as a whole.
He played some AAU ball with NJIT guard Sebastian Robinson on NJ Legacy. His father, a Jersey native, went to Seton Hall Prep. And Billmeier is close with Francis’ dad thanks to a mutual connection: current Rutgers associated head coach Brandin Knight.
“My final two (college choices) coming out of high school were Seton Hall and Pittsburgh,” Billmeier explained. “When I went to Pittsburgh Brandin Knight was my host, and Brandin Knight’s dad and Tariq’s dad were college roommates. So I’ve had a wonderful relationship and Tariq was obviously very close with not only his dad, but he considers Brandin Knight like an uncle. I’ve known his family for 20 years.”
Francis was preparing to spend a postgrad year at The Patrick School before Billmeier and his staff started “heavily recruiting” him, in Francis’ words.
“And from the rip, I really knew I kind of wanted to come. I went on a visit here, loved it, loved the facilities and everything,” he said.
Francis committed in late June. At 6-foot, 180 pounds, he doesn’t stand out from the pack physically, so there was no telling how quickly he would have an impact on NJIT.
He had nine points, seven rebounds and five assists in his college debut at Miami, a program that was coming off a Final Four trip. He ripped off four straight double-digit scoring games off the bench before the end of November.
“I think he has an ability to not only score the basketball but also pass the ball at a really high level,” Billmeier said. “For a sophomore he sees the game very well. He’s able to play at two different paces. Hopefully after a year of playing in this conference and nonconference, he has an even better sophomore year.”
At a practice in early October, Billmeier ran his team through individual drills, both offensive and defensive. Francis was the player who performed each drill first, the one to show his teammates exactly what the coach was looking for.
This year’s NJIT roster sports six sophomores, seven freshmen and no natural juniors or seniors. Grad transfers Tim Moore Jr. (Benedict) and Triston Wennersten (Ithaca) are the only veterans. So not only is Francis starting to lead his peers, he doesn’t have much of a choice.
“The guys are looking at me as one of the leaders,” Francis said. “Honestly, I’m still trying to learn some things myself. So I’m finding the balance between leading as well as learning at the same time. But I definitely look at myself as one of the leaders. And I think the guys embraced me in that role as well.”
Besides growing as a leader, Francis is focused on cutting out some of the freshman mistakes he made and getting stronger. If he finishes through contact more consistently, he can continue to capitalize at the free-throw line, where he shot almost 79% last year.
Francis said winning Rookie of the Year honors had been a goal of his, but amidst the rigors of conference play, he wasn’t focused on it.
“I wanted to help my team win and just be the best team player I could be,” he said. “Going into it, you know, going into the year you definitely got some goals that you set out. But it wasn’t a big thing on my mind. It kind of was just more so the team and trying to help the team win.”
Francis, who had high praise for Billmeier, assistant coach RaShawn Stores and the rest of the NJIT staff, said the primary goal for 2024-25 was to find the win column more. NJIT went 7-21 last year (3-13 in conference) and is the only D1 program in New Jersey that hasn’t gone to the NCAA Tournament.
After four of the Highlanders’ top five scorers from last year graduated, they’ll be building something new around the backcourt of Francis and Robinson.
“I think all our coaches, they definitely deserve (more wins) because they put in a lot of time,” Francis said. “They help us out a lot. So definitely win more games. Win the conference, go to the tournament. Play great individually. Help my teammates play well as well, because if we all play good then we’re gonna win.”
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Thanks for reading. NJIT was one of the first stops on my preseason tour around New Jersey, and I’ll have a bit more on the Highlanders in an overarching mid-major preview later this month.
I haven’t yet spelled out my plans for the preseason, so let’s get that out of the way: Five weeks of season preview content, published twice a week, discussing as many men’s and women’s teams as I can. The season begins Nov. 4, so that morning will by my usual “crystal ball” column that meditates on the best and worst cases for all eight men’s teams followed by a final prediction. At that point, I’ll return to three stories a week and eventually reestablish a paywall for one of those stories, most likely Tuesdays again.
Let’s clean the glass, starting with a few stray notes on NJIT:
Billmeier is expecting a lot from Levi Lawal, who had a stellar freshman showing in his own right with 6.5 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. He made 19 starts, but at 6-foot-7 was playing out of position. “Got thrown into a role nobody really saw coming when he committed to us a week before school,” Billmeier said. “He had to play out of position last year at the five, but he’s gonna move to his natural position at the four this year.” (Fun fact about Lawal: He’s the nephew of WNBA stars Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike.)
So if not Lawal, who will play the five? I liked what I saw from 6-foot-11 freshman Malachi Arrington of Somerville, and definitely not just because we share a hometown. Another option there is Moore, who’s undersized but can jump out of the building.
Billmeier is excited for NJIT’s game against Shaheen Holloway and Seton Hall: “I haven’t been back to the Prudential Center since I was last on staff there. Lot of really good moments. But once the ball goes up, it’s all business.”
The MAAC preseason poll came out this morning, and Quinnipiac and Marist took the top two spots, aligning with my picks for Lindy’s Magazine. Defending champion Saint Peter’s checked in a close fifth, a single vote behind Fairfield, and Rider was picked seventh. Marcus Randolph and Mouhamed Sow of the Peacocks received preseason All-MAAC third-team recognition.