Men's Basketball: UAV's Teran quickly becoming face of young program
Jan. 14, 2016
By ALONSO TACANGA/Valley Press
LANCASTER - It took 10-year-old Franky Teran two years to best the one who introduced him to the game of basketball: his best friend, Eric Stoglin.
"He was way better than me, but eventually I got better," said Teran, a junior guard for the University of Antelope Valley.
Teran would go on to star as a senior at Pueblo High (Ariz.) and as a freshman and sophomore at Chandler-Gilbert Community College (Ariz.), raising his level of play with every passing year.
This season, the first-ever for the UAV men's basketball program, Teran has once again played himself into the role of "the man" for the Pioneers.
"(Teran) is one of the first guys I went after when I first got the job (as coach)," UAV head coach Brad Rogers said.
Many years removed from those days in Arizona hooping with Stoglin, Teran became the first Pioneer ever to claim the California Pacific Conference Player of the Week award on Jan. 5.
On a tear that has the junior shooting an eye-popping 78 percent from the 3-point line (21-for-27) over his last four games while averaging a conference third-best 16.5 points per game for the season, Stoglin can take solace in knowing that not a lot of people are able to stop Teran these days.
"I feel really confident to the point that I don't feel anybody can really guard me," said Teran, whose overall 51 percent shooting from three is tied for fourth in all of NAIA Division 2 basketball. "That's how confident I feel."
Following the conference recognition of Teran's fine week, the junior went out and scored 26 points in a win against Bethesda that same day. It was the most points ever scored by a Pioneer.
The record lasted four days as Teran hit seven 3-pointers and netted 28 points against Embry-Riddle in UAV's first-ever conference game: an 88-75 win.
"I definitely saw he always had that in him," UAV backcourt teammate Joe McNiff said. "From what I could see, I knew he was that caliber of a player.
"It just takes some time."
Much like for the Pioneers, who started their inaugural season by losing six out of their first seven games, Teran started "slow," averaging 12.9 points per game over UAV's first nine games.
Since, Teran, who's also a talented slasher, has scored at least 20 points in five of UAV's last six games, averaging 21.8 points per contest.
Coincidentally, the Pioneers are 7-1 over their last eight games.
"I'm not surprised," said Rogers, who first saw Teran while he was an assistant coach at Arizona Christian University. "I knew Franky is very talented and he can score.
"Franky definitely fell through the cracks. When I heard he was being under-recruited, I went hard after him because he's a high-level player."
Teran was the leading scorer during both of his seasons at Chandler-Gilbert, averaging 14.7 points per game as a sophomore, but the Coyotes struggled to a 12-18 overall record.
To make up for the ineligibility of some of his Coyote teammates, Teran played high minutes and scored in double figures in 20 of the first 22 games before fatigue kicked in and led him to post only two more double-figure games over the final seven contests of the season.
"It was hard for me because I lost a lot of recruitment," Teran said. "My stats went down."
For Rogers, it was an opportunity to scoop up prime talent for his first-year program. Teran was also excited to land in the Antelope Valley, a place that reminds him of home, but "smaller."
Teran's No. 1 focus, however, was playing basketball and being on a winning team.
"(Rogers) told me he really liked my game and said I'd be a really good fit," Teran said. "One thing I told him was I wanted to go to a school where we were going to win games, and he told me that's the goal.
"He's never been on a team where he's had a losing season."
After a rough start, Rogers, Teran and the Pioneers are en route to continuing that trend. UAV's last victory put it over .500 for the first time since the start of the season.
Team success has helped Teran, who is shooting 49.4 percent from the field for the season, elevate his play and vice versa.
"The game definitely slowed down for me a lot ever since we've been winning," he said.
After recording career-highs for scoring in back-to-back games, Teran isn't thinking much about topping his offensive output for a third consecutive game tonight at Pacific Union.
His main goal is winning and helping UAV claim the CalPac championship in its first year in the conference.
"So people know who we are," Teran said.
Stoglin would be proud.
By ALONSO TACANGA/Valley Press
LANCASTER - It took 10-year-old Franky Teran two years to best the one who introduced him to the game of basketball: his best friend, Eric Stoglin.
"He was way better than me, but eventually I got better," said Teran, a junior guard for the University of Antelope Valley.
Teran would go on to star as a senior at Pueblo High (Ariz.) and as a freshman and sophomore at Chandler-Gilbert Community College (Ariz.), raising his level of play with every passing year.
This season, the first-ever for the UAV men's basketball program, Teran has once again played himself into the role of "the man" for the Pioneers.
"(Teran) is one of the first guys I went after when I first got the job (as coach)," UAV head coach Brad Rogers said.
Many years removed from those days in Arizona hooping with Stoglin, Teran became the first Pioneer ever to claim the California Pacific Conference Player of the Week award on Jan. 5.
On a tear that has the junior shooting an eye-popping 78 percent from the 3-point line (21-for-27) over his last four games while averaging a conference third-best 16.5 points per game for the season, Stoglin can take solace in knowing that not a lot of people are able to stop Teran these days.
"I feel really confident to the point that I don't feel anybody can really guard me," said Teran, whose overall 51 percent shooting from three is tied for fourth in all of NAIA Division 2 basketball. "That's how confident I feel."
Following the conference recognition of Teran's fine week, the junior went out and scored 26 points in a win against Bethesda that same day. It was the most points ever scored by a Pioneer.
The record lasted four days as Teran hit seven 3-pointers and netted 28 points against Embry-Riddle in UAV's first-ever conference game: an 88-75 win.
"I definitely saw he always had that in him," UAV backcourt teammate Joe McNiff said. "From what I could see, I knew he was that caliber of a player.
"It just takes some time."
Much like for the Pioneers, who started their inaugural season by losing six out of their first seven games, Teran started "slow," averaging 12.9 points per game over UAV's first nine games.
Since, Teran, who's also a talented slasher, has scored at least 20 points in five of UAV's last six games, averaging 21.8 points per contest.
Coincidentally, the Pioneers are 7-1 over their last eight games.
"I'm not surprised," said Rogers, who first saw Teran while he was an assistant coach at Arizona Christian University. "I knew Franky is very talented and he can score.
"Franky definitely fell through the cracks. When I heard he was being under-recruited, I went hard after him because he's a high-level player."
Teran was the leading scorer during both of his seasons at Chandler-Gilbert, averaging 14.7 points per game as a sophomore, but the Coyotes struggled to a 12-18 overall record.
To make up for the ineligibility of some of his Coyote teammates, Teran played high minutes and scored in double figures in 20 of the first 22 games before fatigue kicked in and led him to post only two more double-figure games over the final seven contests of the season.
"It was hard for me because I lost a lot of recruitment," Teran said. "My stats went down."
For Rogers, it was an opportunity to scoop up prime talent for his first-year program. Teran was also excited to land in the Antelope Valley, a place that reminds him of home, but "smaller."
Teran's No. 1 focus, however, was playing basketball and being on a winning team.
"(Rogers) told me he really liked my game and said I'd be a really good fit," Teran said. "One thing I told him was I wanted to go to a school where we were going to win games, and he told me that's the goal.
"He's never been on a team where he's had a losing season."
After a rough start, Rogers, Teran and the Pioneers are en route to continuing that trend. UAV's last victory put it over .500 for the first time since the start of the season.
Team success has helped Teran, who is shooting 49.4 percent from the field for the season, elevate his play and vice versa.
"The game definitely slowed down for me a lot ever since we've been winning," he said.
After recording career-highs for scoring in back-to-back games, Teran isn't thinking much about topping his offensive output for a third consecutive game tonight at Pacific Union.
His main goal is winning and helping UAV claim the CalPac championship in its first year in the conference.
"So people know who we are," Teran said.
Stoglin would be proud.