LONG BEACH — Over his 25-year career, Long Beach Jordan boys basketball coach Chris Francis has not lost his love for the sport.
“Just looking back like wow, sometimes I reminisce… I’m in love with the game of basketball,” said Francis, who started as a high school basketball head coach before the 1999-2000 season at King/Drew High. “It’s been good to me and I’m going to ride it out until I can’t anymore.”
He said that passion fueled and guided him to earn his 300th career win as a high school basketball head coach, leading his team to a 73-67 nonleague victory over Narbonne at the Artesia Winter Classic tournament Wednesday night. The Panthers improved to 2-2 overall.
“Obviously, it’s a great milestone but in the game of the basketball I still can’t make it about me,” Francis continued. “I still have to coach the team the way I normally coach the team and get the guys to be on the same page and for us to just stick to the game plan for 32 minutes.”
Francis finished last season with 298 wins, after going 14-15. The journey to win two more games came with self-imposed pressure, Francis admitted.
“It’s a little pressure because it’s something that me and my family, we’ve been knowing that it’s going to happen for a while,” Francis explained.
Francis’ 300 wins have come at King/Drew, Compton Centennial, Millikan and most recently at Long Beach Jordan, where he led the program to a CIF-SS Division 4A title in 2023.
Long Beach Jordan Head Coach Chris Francis celebrates his team’s win against Sage Hill in the CIF-SS Division 4A boys basketball championship game at Edison High School in Huntington Beach on Saturday, February 25, 2023. Long Beach Jordan won the game 68-57. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Meanwhile, Coach Francis’ message about growing up in Louisiana before moving to California, still resonates with his former players.
“Coach Chris reached 300 wins,” said Alan Mitchell, one of Francis’ former players, who is currently the head coach at St. Anthony High. “Great feat for a coach from Fisherville. Grateful to be a part of that journey where it all started at King/Drew. 70-plus wins, championships, lessons and love. It wasn’t always pretty but it was worth it. He knew how to get the most out of us and he’s still doing it.”
Inside Long Beach Jordan boys basketball head coach Chris Francis’ journey before earning his 300th win.
After 25 years as a high school basketball head coach Coach Francis said he’s still in love with the game of basketball.
This interview is from after his first attempt to… pic.twitter.com/SMNBFqvi4v
— John W. Davis (@johnwdavis) November 29, 2025