Fran Belibi Biography

Fran Belibi instantly became an internet sensation after a video of her dunking went viral on January 6, 2017. It was taken during a match between Regis Jesuit High School in Aurora, Colorado and their in-state opponent Grand Junction. The 15-year-old sophomore stole the ball midcourt and dunked it with her right hand, helping her school clinch a 78-23 win. At the same time, she also became the first girl to dunk during a high school game. While there were only a handful of people witnessing the event from the stands due to a snowstorm outside, someone shot a video clip and shared it online. The video got about 2 million views within days. As she did not have any social media accounts, her school coach Carl Mattei received about 300 phone calls and texts from college coaches who wanted to recruit her.

It was revealed after Fran Belibi’s famous dunk that she originally played tennis and became interested in basketball less than 16 months before her famous dunk. On September 20, 2015, she picked up a ball during a Regis Jesuit open-gym session and nonchalantly told the coaches that she could "dunk a volleyball". She showed it to them, started learning to play basketball in the coming months, but became a starter not until next February. She quickly improved her 6.3 points average and 5.9 rebounds as a freshman to 18.0 points, 9.4 rebounds, 3.4 blocks and 2.1 steals in her sophomore season. She even increased her foul shooting from 33 percent as a freshman to 53 percent that season. After she gained fame on the internet, it was also revealed that while she had dunked several times during the practice, she could never pull it off during a game before doing so in one that made her famous. She once again repeated the feat in December 2018 after she scored a career-high 32 points with another dunk that led to her school’s victory over Grandview.

Belibi, who had witnessed a friend receiving countless calls and messages in the middle of a school day as soon as the recruitment window opened, decided to change her mobile number when she became famous. She also stopped taking calls from unknown numbers. Since the recruiters could not contact her directly, her family set up the website www.franbelibirecruit.com to make sure that she didn't miss out on good opportunities. While many coaches were initially frustrated by the unexpected barrier, some of them eventually played along. Around 217 college programs reached out to her through her school coach Carl Mattei, and about 40 registered through her web portal. Following a thorough research, she and her family shortlisted four programs: Harvard, Princeton, Notre Dame and Stanford. After visiting all four of them, Belibi finally committed to the Stanford University in May 2018 because it has a medical school on campus and she wants to become a doctor.

Francesca 'Fran' Belibi was born on July 20, 2001, in Kansas City, Kansas, United States, to Franck and Suzanne Belibi. Her father is an internist and nephrologist, while her mother is a pediatrician. Her parents were born in Cameroon, but they met while studying at a medical school in Europe. They lived in Belgium before coming to the United States. Fran is the eldest of her parents’ four children, and she grew up with a brother named Franck and two sister named Fabiola and Hana. She loves to read and to play with her siblings in her spare time. Her family currently resides in Centennial, Colorado, and she attends Regis Jesuit High School in Aurora, Colorado. Inspired by her parents, she is interested in pursuing a medical degree, which is why she chose the Stanford University, as it has a medical school on its campus.