Blue Star Operations

Tony Francis

Tony Francis joined Blue Star in the summer of 2018 after a nearly 20 year career in women's college athletics. His most recent stop coming at Lindenwood University where he was the Head Coach of the program for eight years in which he transitioned them from NAIA to Division II.

Before accepting the head coaching position at Lindenwood, Francis spent eight seasons as an assistant coach at NCAA Division I, Saint Louis. At Saint Louis, Francis was the recruiting coordinator and he helped the Billikens land some of the top talent in the St. Louis area. One of the top athletes the program signed Theresa Lisch, who was a first-team all-conference and Academic All-American at Saint Louis.

Francis helped the Billikens win 82 games. He was a member of the staff in 2002-03 when the team finished fifth in the Atlantic-10 and advanced to the WNIT. That squad had the second-best winning percentage at Saint Louis over the last 23 years.

Prior to coaching at Saint Louis, Francis was a successful head coach at Silex (Mo.) High School from 1994-2002. In eight years, he led the Owls to a 159-67 record and won five district and five conference championships. His top team came in 2001 when Silex won the Class 1A Missouri state championship. Francis coached five All-State players and nine players earned college basketball scholarships. He was named the 1A Coach of the Year after his state championship season. He was the Lincoln County Coach of the Year five times and District Coach of the Year once.

Francis played basketball at Culver-Stockton College. He then begin his coaching career there as a men’s student assistant, helping the team win the 1991 HAAC Championship. He graduated from Culver-Stockton in 1991 with a bachelor’s degree in physical education.

Tony and his family reside in Missouri.