RENO, Nev. - Former University of Nevada forward Cherlanda Franklin, who graduated from Nevada in December of 2008 with a degree in speech communications and a minor in psychology, has remained a part of the Pack even after graduation.
Franklin spent the 2009-10 season doing interviews for the halftime television segments for Nevada football and men's and women's basketball games.
"I loved it," Franklin said. "I was surprised at how many people noticed that it was even me. It is something I enjoy doing and I wouldn't mind doing it professionally in the future."
Franklin, a native of Phoenix, Ariz., still lives in Reno and works as a case manager for a foster program. As for basketball, she isn't too involved in it anymore but she still enjoys the sport.
She played for Nevada from 2004-09 having to redshirt the 2006-07 season due to a knee injury. Franklin said her favorite memories from her time at Nevada involved her teammates and she still keeps in touch with the majority of the players.
"My memories usually involve the players, we were a very eclectic group and had tons of fun," Franklin said. "There are too many good memories to just name some. The players and times we had were good, bad and ugly, but overall amazing.
"I keep in touch with majority of the players since social networking sites make that really easy," she said. "We all talk to each other on a regular basis and will randomly text each other just to say hi. It also helps that I'm still in Reno so it's easy for us to get together to hangout."
Franklin, who played in 122 career games while starting 98, ended her career averaging 6.5 points per game and 5.0 rebounds per game. She also served as a team captain in 2008-09.
As for her future plans, she said she will be happy with the opportunities that come her way.
"My plans for the future are up in the air. I'm all about opportunities and living in the present. Wherever I'm supposed to be I'll end up," Franklin said. "I'm blessed to have such a great support system that catches me when or if I fall and get me right back up and at it again. I want to travel the world and experience different cultures, since I was so busy with basketball I never got that chance. It would be nice to eventually have that opportunity. I also would like to end up eventually in southern California since that's been my dream since I was a little girl. However, Reno has really grown on me in the past couple of years so who knows!"
