South Carolina football commit Blake Franks overcame growing too fast with 'incredible' determination
At 6-foot-5 and 310 pounds, Greenville's three-star offensive lineman Blake Franks — the No. 2 player on 864Huddle's 2023 Dandy Dozen list — has always looked like he was born to obliterate defenders on the football field.
"That's always been the case," Franks said. "Growing up, I was always bigger and taller than all the people in my life or at school."
But don't let that fool you. His physicality wasn't the reason the South Carolina commit was able to stack Power 5 offers from the likes of Alabama, Ole Miss, Florida and Clemson. Franks earned that because of something he's been doing since he was a kid − overcompensating.
"I think his success now, stems back to when he was growing up. Because his body grew so fast ... he had some trouble with his fine motor skills," said L'Adair Sterling, Franks' mother. "Like when using utensils to eat, he would have to give an extra effort and almost overcompensate to learn and gain those skills."
"I think that he almost internalized that feeling of needing to overcompensate, so when football came around he was already used to having to work that much harder to be great at something that would come easier or more naturally for other people," Sterling said.
864Huddle's Dandy Dozen series: No. 12 Knai Cook | No. 11 Jayden Wilson-Abrams | No. 10 Avery McFadden | No. 9 Joshua Williams | No. 8 Steven O'Dell | No. 7 Jimmar Boston | No. 6 Watson Young | No. 5 Julius Tate | No. 4 Dashun Reeder | No. 3 Marcus Downs
'He doesn't quit'
Greenville coach Greg Porter remembers the moment he knew Franks had a different type of mentality. It was during a track drill when Franks was a freshman.
"His determination is incredible. He doesn't quit," Porter said. "During that drill, most kids stop at 100 meters, walk or take a quick break. Even at his size, he did not quit until he finished. Right then I knew he was going to be special."
THE GREAT WALL OF GREENVILLE: Here's why Greenville High School's football offensive line is one of best in state
The moment it all clicked
But what Franks' coach could see only began to come together after some tough love and a summer full of hard work.
"His second camp that summer at Virginia Tech, the coaches there told him he was a little bit too heavy and that he had a lot of baby fat he needed to cut," Sterling said.
Franks took that direction and ran with it.
"From that moment on, that boy only wanted to eat chicken and rice every day," Sterling said. "Like, he made it a point to ask me, 'Mama, are you going to Costco? Can you buy me some chicken?'
"He literally only ate chicken and rice. He literally ... at every opportunity he could, would try to go work out. I'm talking like four workouts a day sometimes. That's the type of drive he has."
All it took for Franks to go all in was someone pointing him in the right direction and the slightest indication that if he did put in the work, it would pay off.
"Football has always been my outlet, but when I realized that I could really do this and play college football, that's when I began to take it really seriously," he said.
Top Greenville football players to watch in 2023: Quarterbacks | Running Backs | Wide Receivers | Offensive Line | Defensive Line | Linebackers
The payoff
It didn't take too long to see the fruits of his football-driven labor — as a sophomore, Franks earned a starting spot on the varsity team.
"Sophomore year really built me up, especially getting that starting job ... and then that summer, from sophomore to junior year, I don't know how to explain it, but everything started to click; in the sense that everything just started happening so quickly," Franks said.
In May 2022, the offers came rolling in. But one in particular validated all the work Franks put in, the first offer, from Ole Miss.
"It was just life-changing," he said.
His mother recalls Franks being over the moon after receiving the news of the offer. "It was the most excited he's been through this process, that I can recall," Sterling said.
After that first offer, the floodgates opened, and his life-changing moment in May turned into a looming life-changing decision by the end of July when South Carolina, Clemson and Alabama all offered.
Ultimately, the kid who grew up a Tigers fan chose to become a Gamecock.
"It's funny," Sterling said, "because from the moment USC recruited Blake, he told them, 'You know, it's nice to meet you, but I'm going to Clemson.' But the fact that South Carolina recruited him so hard to get him to just look at them, ended up being the reason he committed to them."
This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: South Carolina football commit Blake Franks overcame growing too fast
