 Belibi with Stanford in 2022 | |
| No. 5 – Free Agent | |
|---|---|
| Position | Forward |
| Personal information | |
| Born | July 20, 2001 Kansas City, Kansas |
| Nationality | American |
| Listed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Regis Jesuit (Denver, Colorado) |
| College | Stanford (2019–2023) |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Medals | |
Francesca Belibi (born July 20, 2001) is an American basketball player who last played for the Stanford Cardinal of the Pac-12 Conference. She drew national attention in high school for her dunking ability.[1][2][3][4] In 2020, she became the eighth woman to dunk in a women's college basketball game.[5] In 2021, she won the NCAA championship with Stanford.
Belibi was born in Kansas City, Kansas to Franck and Suzanne Belibi, who were born in Cameroon and moved to Belgium before coming to the United States. The family later moved to Centennial, Colorado.[6]
Belibi started playing competitive basketball for the first time during her freshman year at Regis Jesuit High School.[7] In 2017, she became the first girl to dunk in a game in Colorado high school history.[8] In February 2019, she pulled off the first ever alley-oop dunk by a female in a high school game in Colorado.[9][10] As a senior she averaged 21.8 points, 12.3 rebounds, 3.4 steals, 2.7 blocks and 2.3 assists per game. She was named a McDonald's All-American in 2019 and went on to become the second woman to win the dunk contest at the McDonald's All American Game, after Candace Parker who won in 2004.[11][12]
During her freshman season she averaged 6.6 points and 4.5 rebounds per game in 32 games, making six starts.[13] In December 2020, she became the eighth woman to dunk in a college basketball game when she dunked with under a minute left in the first half of Stanford's victory against California.[14][15] Eight days later, she had another dunk in a victory against UCLA.[16]
On April 4, 2021, Belibi won the NCAA championship after Stanford beat the Arizona Wildcats, 54–53, in the national title game.[17]
On March 19, 2022, Belibi had the third dunk in NCAA women's tournament history when she dunked midway through the second quarter of Stanford's 78-37 first round victory against Montana State.[18]
Belibi made the decision to forgo her final year of college eligibility resulting from the extra year of Covid-19 eligibility. Instead, Belibi made the decision to pursue a Masters in Education from Harvard University in 2023-2024.
Belibi has won three gold medals playing for the United States junior national teams, 2019 FIBA Under-19 Women's Basketball World Cup, 2018 FIBA Under-17 Women's Basketball World Cup and the 2017 FIBA Under-16 Women's Americas Championship.[13]
Belibi is listed 6'1" in shoes but 5'11" without them. She has a 6-foot-5 wingspan and a 31-inch vertical leap. Belibi has two younger sisters and one younger brother. Fabiola, the second born child will be attending Harvard university for track, Hana, the third oldest is a consensus 4 star recruit in the 2024 class, and her youngest sibling, Franck is a 4 star recruit, and one of the top recruits in 2026. [4]
