AURORA, Colo. — The secret is out on Fran Belibi.
The 6-foot-1 forward out of Regis Jesuit can throw down some ridiculous dunks.
She became the first female in the state of Colorado to register a dunk in a high-school game back in January of 2017, her sophomore year with the Raiders. Two years later, she added to it, tagging up with a teammate for an alley-opp, another first in the state of Colorado but the first nation-wide.
The videos quickly went viral, catching the likes of Miami’s Dwyane Wade, Golden State’s Steph Curry, WNBA champion Sue Bird, as well as Harlem Globetrotter Lili 'Champ' Thompson.
“Obviously her dunking ability, but I know she’s a well-rounded player. I know she has a work ethic so, just a really nice young lady to hang out with and, you know, shot some hoops,” Thompson said.
A rookie with the one of the most well-known sports entertainment groups, Champ spent an hour of her Thursday afternoon hanging out at the Raider’s practice, showing off the quick handles and tag-teaming on some dunk combinations.
“Girls don’t really go out and practice alley-ooping so a lot of people don’t really know how to do it so it’s nice to have someone who comes in and knows how to do it,” said Belibi, who heads to Stanford next season.
It’s another area the two can relate on, as Champ played three years with the Cardinal before finishing off her collegiate career at Notre Dame.
“She was just kind telling me about how to find that place to belong and just what to do in those regards being there and playing basketball,” added Belibi.
Champ's biggest piece of advice:
“Just to take advantage of the opportunity. It goes by really quickly, it’s a lot of fun and just remember to have fun with it.”