HIGHLIGHT: Former Northwestern OT Zachary Franks is signed by the Blue Devils

Over the previous four years, despite injuries, the former Top 100 offensive lineman prospect out of Baltimore has frequently contributed as a reserve for the Wildcats.
Zachary Franks, a former offensive lineman for Northwestern, committed to the Blue Devils on Wednesday as part of the coach Manny Diaz’s ongoing rebuild of the Duke offensive line via the NCAA Transfer Portal.

After logging on to the portal on January 16, the 6′ 6″, 315-pound offensive tackle from Baltimore, Maryland, received offers from Western Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Duke, Florida Atlantic, Central Florida, and Toledo.

He became the 11th player from the transfer portal to commit to Diaz’s team on Wednesday night when he committed to Duke. Of those eleven players, five are offensive linemen, with Franks playing perimeter lineman with Stanford’s James Pogoreic and former Colgate tackle Micah Sahakian. Mike Barr of Lafayette and Eric Schon of Holy Cross have joined the Blue Devils on the inside.

Franks was rated as high as 100th in the recruiting class of 2019 for offensive tackles. That year, he was ranked as the 13th best player in the state of Maryland and the 81st overall offensive lineman in the nation. Franks turned down offers from Penn State, Arizona, Baylor, Boston College, California, Duke, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisville, Maryland, Nebraska, Pittsburgh, and other universities as a high school prospect. Instead, he selected Northwestern.

Franks was a bench player for much of his career, playing in eight of nine games in 2020 after taking a redshirt in 2019. After missing the 2022 season due to an injury, he started the 2022 and 2023 seasons on regular reserve. In September of 2023, he made his first career start at right tackle in the Wildcats’ opening game.

After receiving his undergraduate degree in business administration and management, Franks was a graduate student at the Kellogg School of Management, where he was seeking a Master of Science degree.
After losing in the opening round of the previous season, Arizona has not advanced to the Elite Eight since 2015. The Wildcats’ squad also has relatively little NCAA Tournament experience. Caleb Love is not like the others. He has a track record of making big shots and has experience in the Final Four. In his past two games, he has averaged 27.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.5 assists on 41% shooting from beyond the arc, which is his best game of the season. Arizona (No. 7) is the only club in the top 10 in KenPom’s adjusted offense rating with a top 25 defense (No. 11).

Despite being one of the greatest college basketball coaches, Rick Barnes has only had one Final Four appearance in his 37-year tenure. At Tennessee, he wants to get past the Sweet 16 for the first time, and he has a team that can do it. In March, the combination of Jonas Aidoo and Dalton Knecht will keep the other coaches up at night. So will the Volunteers’ defense, which is ranked second in the country by KenPom despite playing against the fifth-toughest slate of offenses this year.

Kansas is playing through one of the most difficult schedules in the country, having dropped three of its last six games. Nevertheless, with 257 games of combined college experience, veterans Hunter Dickinson and Kevin McCullar are among the top players in the country at their positions. The Jayhawks’ offense has occasionally been a problem, but Bill Self’s team has shown to be tough and has the nation’s 10th-best defense, according to KenPom. With two games remaining on the schedule against No. 1 Houston and No. 15 Baylor, Kansas has the seventh-toughest schedule in the country so far.

You never know who will make an appearance for Kentucky. Last week, the Wildcats thrashed No. 14 Alabama in three days after losing to SEC bottom-feeder LSU. The squad that defeated Alabama can easily go to the Final Four. There’s no doubting Kentucky’s ability. This season, the Wildcats have had six freshmen score 17 or more points in a game. One of the most crucial elements of a lengthy tournament run is shotmaking, something John Calipari’s team excels at. Can they prevent the mental errors that have cost them eight games this season with such youthful talent?

KenPom puts Duke No. 25 on defense and No. 8 in the country for adjusted offensive efficiency. With five players averaging over ten points a game, the Blue Devils are a squad primed for a deep run in the NCAA Tournament, according to the stats. Although Kyle Filipowski gets all the credit, rookie Jared McCain is the Blue Devils’ most important player and their X-factor in March. Duke is worried because, despite McCain’s valiant efforts, the team has managed to lose; the UNC and Pittsburgh games are two examples.