Hooper turned robotics engineer? Franck Kepnang walks through unique academic path

Franck Kepnang‘s mother did not allow her son to take the former portion of the phrase “student-athlete” for granted. In fact, she wanted the 7-0, 275-pound center to know early that no matter how big he got or talented he was, academics would always be the top priority. For whatever reason, Hortense Tchuisseu’s message stuck — maybe it’s her black belt and the intimidation factor that came with, the Kentucky graduate senior joked. Fortunately for Kepnang, he enjoyed school more than most and thrived, particularly in math and science fields. He could take or leave reading and writing, but something clicked when it came to numbers and problem-solving. “I would say it’s always been my mother growing up,” he told KSR of his passion for academics. “She always made sure that school was very important. She instilled in me the importance of school. I’ve always been a pretty, like, a science kind of guy, math, those were the courses where I excelled and what I liked to do. I wasn’t too much in the writing and things like that, but numbers I kind of found early on that this was my niche.” He remembers a gift he got as a kid, one that wound up being the reason he’d go on to earn a bachelor’s degree in geographic data science and why he’s finishing up his master’s in information systems, specializing in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity: an RC car. Kepnang played with it like normal on the first day, then spent the second completely dismantling and rewiring it so it’d go backward when you control it to go forward or forward when you want it to go backward, left to go right and vice versa. That’s all it took to scratch an itch he didn’t know existed and ensure he wouldn’t major in underwater basket weaving. “Once I kind of figured out how to do it that way without look it up, ‘I’m gonna do this,’ I think that’s what kind of started that drive for that kind of techy aspect of things,” Kepnang said. “So when I got to college, my mentors really made sure to tell me, ‘You really need to have a backup plan. Is this a good opportunity?’ I mean, not everybody gets to say they have a couple degrees and are debt-free, for example. So just kind of taking the importance of the scholarships, taking advantage of them, taking all the resources that I had, and make sure I get the best degree I possibly can. When the ball stop bouncing, that plan B, plan C, it doesn’t matter what I have to do.” At some point, that ball will stop bouncing, and he knows exactly what he’s going to do. He’ll finish his career at Kentucky, then potentially play professionally, but his post-basketball career will leave him quite satisfied as a self-identified tech nerd. If he has it his way, he’ll build robots in his garage with his family and be the happiest man in the world. “After ball, become a robotic engineer. That’s kind of the end goal,” he told KSR. “I got my undergrad in geographical data science, and right now, I’m finishing my master’s in information management with a specialty in cybersecurity and AI. That’s kind of — ultimately, when the ball stops bouncing, I will be tying all of those resources, all the things that I’ve learned, ultimately to become a robotic engineer. “My dream job is to work from home, build stuff in my garage and just be happy and be with my family.” Maybe he can get the ball rolling with some NIL opportunities from tech companies at Kentucky? I’m sure someone out there would be thrilled to use their advertising budget on a 7-foot basketball player capable of ripping a rim off the backboard instead of, well, anyone else doing their endorsements. Kepnang loves the idea — if there are any workarounds with his international restrictions. “I mean, it would be pretty awesome. Pretty awesome. But as an international student, there are a lot of restrictions when it comes to those types of things. Unless it’s somebody internationally that’s in that field — I would love that, obviously.” If you know a guy, let Big Franck know. Either way, we know he’s going to be living an interesting life once that ball stops bouncing.