The following story is the latest in a spotlight series of SWOSU student-athletes from the Weatherford Daily News and was published in the newspaper on January 11th.
 
 
Bethany Franks, an athlete on the SWOSU women's basketball team, has had to overcome a significant challenge while also transitioning from high school to college basketball.
 
Franks, a 19-year old athlete from Norman, had to overcome both mental and physical obstacles when making the transition to a college athlete. After high school, she underwent two major knee reconstruction surgeries, forcing her to work even harder at the college level to prepare for the challenge.
 
"I learned that with hard work and dedication, anything is possible," Franks said.   
 
This attitude is reflected in one of her favorite quotes by Maya Angelou, "Still I Rise." When asked to pick one word to describe her, Franks replied "durable," because she has managed to stay strong and true to herself despite the challenges she has faced and overcome.
 
As a 5-year old girl, Franks got involved in basketball and says her earliest memories are playing in Junior Jammers and with the Oklahoma Select AAU team.
 
When she first came to SWOSU, her main goal was to win a championship, find her role and contribute as much as she could to the success of her team. Since she has been at SWOSU, her team has won a conference, but Franks still hopes to win the conference again, go on to win the conference tournament and eventually win a national championship. Individually, she says defense and rebounding are her strengths, but she would like to improve her mid-range game and increase her free throw percentage.
 
Franks' sports hero is Candace Parker, because she sees her as an extremely talented athlete and an inspirational woman both on and off the court.
 
To prepare for every game, Franks has a few routines she follows. She usually doesn't get nervous before games, but if she does she puts on headphones and listens to country music to calm her down.
 
"Before every game, I always listen to music while putting up some shots," Franks said. "The night before every game day I always eat pasta and garlic bread for dinner. Also, before every game I sit in the locker room and look over my scouting report before we go out to warm up."
 
For Franks, the most important thing a coach taught her is simply "next play."
 
"It's so important to me because we're always going to make mistakes and things aren't always going to go our way," Franks said. "We have to be able to learn and grow from those situations, in basketball and in life."