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- Title:
- Student-Athlete
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- Previous College Sports Played:
- Men's Basketball
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- Graduating Class:
- 1981
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- Induction Class:
- 2018
Bio
Cleo Franklin, a 1981 graduate, was a standout guard who has one of the highest career scoring averages at Morningside with 875 points in 56 contests for a norm of 15.6 points per game. Franklin earned first-team All-North Central Conference (NCC) honors for the 1978-79 and 1980-81 seasons after joining the team as a transfer from Muscatine Community College.
Franklin left Muscatine as the program's leading scorer, with 891 total points. He scored 577 points in his second year, averaging 21.3 points per game and shooting 55 percent from the floor.
Franklin made an immediate impact that year when he led the team in scoring with 411 points for a 16.4-point average. He was a third-team all-district selection and was named to that season's all-tournament team at the annual NCC Holiday Tournament.
Franklin was named the team's MVP and was a first-team National Association of Basketball Coaches all-district selection as a senior when he scored 425 points. He was also Morningside's second leading scorer and third leading rebounder with an average of 15.1 points and 4.2 rebounds a game.