Malanie Francis wins FCSAA Sandy Miller Award at Santa Fe College

Malanie Francis turned a two-year run at Santa Fe College into the FCSAA’s top women’s basketball scholar-athlete honor, winning the Sandy Miller Award on June 25 and moving into consideration for the statewide female scholar-athlete prize. The Florida College System Activities Association named winners across 13 sports, and each sport champion advanced to the final round for the overall male or female scholar-athlete awards, with finalists set for June 30 and winners announced July 2.

Francis earned the recognition with a profile that fit the award’s standard better than a box score alone. Over two seasons at Santa Fe, she appeared in 35 games and shot 59.6% from the field. In the 2025-26 season alone, she grabbed more than 100 rebounds and added nine steals and seven blocks, production that showed up on both ends without asking her to carry the offense every night. That kind of efficiency matters in junior college basketball, where the season moves fast and the margin for error is thin.

The academic side of Francis’ case was just as strong. Santa Fe listed her on the 2025 Spring All-Saints Academic Team, the 2025 Fall All Saints Academic Team, the 2025-26 FCSAA Academic All-State Team and the 2026 Spring All Saints Academic Team. She plans to major in nursing and has already signed with the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, where she will continue her career next season after two years in Gainesville.

Santa Fe head coach David Lowery said Francis’ value ran far beyond points and rebounds, and the school’s choice of award name added another layer to the honor. Sandy Miller was Santa Fe’s first women’s basketball coach and one of the program’s foundational figures. The college said Miller began at Santa Fe in 1971 as an instructor, pushed for the addition of women’s sports, including basketball, and coached the first NJCAA-sanctioned team at the school. Santa Fe announced on February 20 that Miller had died on February 16.

The award also lands in the middle of a broader Santa Fe program history that has leaned on the same formula Francis embodied. Chanda Stebbins’ coaching bio lists a 303-290 record, six Mid-Florida Conference titles and 13 state or regional tournament appearances in the last 17 seasons, with the program built around academics, basketball and character. The Saints finished 7-19 overall and 3-15 in conference play in 2025-26, which makes Francis’ individual recognition one of the cleanest bright spots in a rebuilding season. She signed with Santa Fe in July 2024 as part of a four-player incoming class, and by the end of her second year, she had become the kind of player and student junior college programs are built to produce.