Indiana freshmen Trayce Jackson-Davis and Armaan Franklin have known eachother since seventh grade. Now, they are roommates with personal chemistry that will look to develop on the court this season.
Freshmen Trayce Jackson-Davis and Armaan Franklin each have their first collegiate game behind them. While they haven’t established themselves as a strong duo on the court just yet, they’ve been able to establish a bond off of it.
The two have known each other since seventh grade and are now roommates at Indiana. They do everything together, from eating after practice to watching movies and playing video games.
They have “Great chemistry,” Jackson-Davis said with laughter alongside Franklin. “We're roommates, we're brothers, we love each other. We hang out all the time. Even off the court, we're always with each other.”
In middle school, they played AAU basketball together before attending their respective high schools. Now, they share housing together at the same college campus where they can be themselves.
The young Hoosiers have watched every Marvel movie together and have seen Step Brothers six times already. Occasionally, they’ll decide to throw in a scary movie, but films starring Will Ferrell are a go-to choice.
They have shown a clear understanding of one another in their personal lives, knowing traits that would otherwise stay hidden to those on the outside. We know Jackson-Davis as the 6-foot-7 forward that earned the title of Indiana Mr. Basketball. Franklin sees the other side of his teammate every day.
“Trayce is goofy,” Franklin said. “He's a big, goofy dude. He'll just say some random stuff sometimes, I’ll just be looking at him like ‘bro, what are you talking about?’”
The same goes for Jackson-Davis and his perspective of Franklin. The guard from Cathedral High School has shown superb vision on the floor early in the year and has been tasked with playing multiple positions.
He’s focused, but Jackson-Davis also sees more.
“Armaan, when you first get to know him he's quiet,” Jackson-Davis said. “After a while, he'll get out of his shell. He's a fun dude to be around. We love our movies. Movie time is a great time.”
Away from basketball, Jackson-Davis and Franklin compete against each other with video game controllers in hand. Former Indiana Mr. Basketball claims superiority in popular games like Fortnite and Call of Duty.
“All the athletic games, give them to me,” Franklin said after stating his success in Madden and FIFA. “He has all the shooting games.”
On the court, however, both have had to adapt to basketball at the college level. They’ve turned to upperclassmen like junior captain Al Durham during the transition to head coach Archie Miller’s team.
Along the way, Jackson-Davis has won the team’s gold jersey three times — an honor given to the best player in practice each week. Franklin, on the other hand, has stepped up in the backcourt with early-season injuries to Durham, sophomore Rob Phinisee and senior Devonte Green.
They both earned the right to start in Indiana’s season opener against Western Illinois and will play a crucial role for Miller in his third season as Indiana’s head coach.
“For me, it was exhilarating,” Franklin said. “I was a little nervous, but just playing in front of these great fans, you have so many expectations. Just got to live up to them. We just got to play our best basketball. It was a fun experience.”
Franklin finished the game with five points, a team-high eight assists and zero turnovers. Jackson-Davis ended with six points and six rebounds of his own.
Over the course of the season, both will become accustomed to this new stage and will bring the level of comfort they share with each other as friends onto the floor.
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