France excited about future at Trevecca

Joining Shelbyville Central's Michael France at his signing with Trevecca are his mother Dorla France, father Michael France Sr., (back, from left) Shelbyville coach Kevin Thomas and Trevecca coach Sam Harris. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

Michael France may go down as one of the most athletic guards ever to wear a Golden Eagle uniform.

But, more importantly, his ability as an overall basketball player has been rewarded with a college scholarship to play at Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville.

"I'm truly excited, and I'm so happy I got a scholarship to go play up there," France said. "The most important thing for me was being close to home. The campus is beautiful, and I think it will be a good fit for me."

The 6-foot-1 guard was a four-year letterman under coach Kevin Thomas as Shelbyville racked up a 105-30 record during one of the most successful periods in the history of the program.

France, the son of Michael Sr. and Dorla France, was named All-District 8-AAA during his junior and senior seasons as well as All-Region 4-AAA in the 2007-08 campaign.

He was also a member of the Land-Air All-Tournament team in Greeneville and was named the Most Valuable Player of the HoopFest game in Benton, Ky.

France also took second place in the dunk contest during the festivities at the East-West All-Star game held at Trevecca.

"I just think Michael's one of those kids who has come so far," Thomas said. "When he first got here he was so small and thin, but you could just tell he had a great desire to want to play. He's always worked so hard, especially on his ballhandling and leaping ability, and he just hung in there and hung in there."

Trevecca head coach Sam Harris, who spotted France for the first time during the 2007 Region 4-AAA tournament at Siegel, is excited to have him aboard.

"Michael is a good kid, and he'll be a good fit here. I think he is going to be a really good player for us," said Harris, who just led the Trojans to the NAIA National Tournament for the fourth time in the last nine years. "It always takes freshmen a little time to adjust, but we're looking for kids that have that athletic ability and basketball skill. I think he has both of those and I believe he's only going to get better and better and better."

Harris expects that combination of athleticism and skill to help his squad sooner rather than later.

"I'd say in the last five or six years, Shelbyville has had some of the best guards around and there is no doubt about that," he said. "We knew we needed an athletic guard -- someone who has good skill right now that we can develop. Most of the players in our league are really borderline Division I players and I really think Michael fits into that category."

According to his high school coach, France's development while at Central can be attributed to his talented teammates as well his hard-working menatality.

"He got to defend Barry Stewart every day (in practice) as a sophomore," Thomas said. "I think he looked up to Barry and wanted to play the game like him. He really put his mind to try and do that to the best of his ability.

"Trevecca is getting a good athlete that can slash and is quick off the dribble. He is exactly what they were looking for. In two years, he'll be a much better player than he is now and that makes him a great fit for them."

France, who plans on majoring in accounting, is one of four Trojan signees this year.

As he prepares to make the transition to collegiate basketball, the graduating senior credits Thomas for his improvement throughout his high school career.

"The experience at Shelbyville was the best four years of my life and I'm really going to miss it, but it's time for me to go and move on in my life," France said. "(Coach Thomas) pushed us all and he may have pushed me a little more, but it made me better. I always wanted to work on my own game to get better."