Let's face it, Caleb "Biggie" Swanigan is putting out a rebound clinic not seen in these parts for a long time. His 32-point, 20-rebound performance Wednesday vs. Norfolk State left basketball researchers to sift through the record books. That, of course, after his 21/20 outburst on Monday night.

Swanigan joins Blake Griffin of Oklahoma as the only major conference men's college basketball players to have back-to-back 20-point, 20-rebound games in the last 20 years of NCAA hoops. He is the last Boilermaker to have a 30-point, 20-rebound game since Bob Ford had a 36-point 20-board effort against Minnesota on Jan. 16, 1971. That's nearly 46 years.

Regarding back-to-back performances, Swanigan is the most recent Purdue player to post consecutive performances reaching 20-points and 20-rebounds since William Franklin did it on back in 1972. Like Swanigan, Franklin had his amazing games in front of the home crowd of Mackey Arena, with 26 and 21 in a home loss to Northwestern on Jan. 29, 1972 and 28 and 20 in a victory over 20th-ranked Michigan Feb. 5, 1972.

So who were Ford and Franklin?

Well, most Purdue hoops fans know and remember Ford as he served as the color television analyst for the Boilermakers for over three-plus decades. The Evansville, Ind., native still works at Purdue as the director of the President's Council and his son Andew was a walk-on guard for Coach Gene Keady from 2002-05. He admitted his memory of the game against the Gophers has faded over the years.

"I know I must have been tired," laughed Ford, assuming how he must have felt after that game. "But I also remember Minnesota had some really talented players in long-time NBA guys like Jim Brewer, and we beat them.

That Purdue, under coach George King did. A wild 97-92 affair which seemed to be the norm in terms of offensive output in Mackey Arena in those days.

"We had some special guys on the front line in those days with George (Faerber) and Bill (William Frankin) that took up a lot of space and could really rule the glass," said Ford, regarding Purdue's named "F-Troop" front line of the 1970-71 season.

Led in part by that trio, and high scoring guard Larry Weatherford, Purdue finished 18-7 that season and became (along with Michigan) the first Big Ten team to play in the NIT.

Ford, who earned first team All-Big Ten status as a senior in 1972, has been around the program for years. Franklin, on the other hand, hasn't been seen around since he left prematurely in 1972.

But Franklin made a big impact, especially on the glass in his days in West Lafayette.

The Norfolk, Va. native came to Purdue at the time that very African-Americans were playing in the ACC, the conference closest to his home. He was akin to a five-star recruit in his days.

Franklin was a bigger-than-life character and earned some early notoriety as a sophomore when Purdue played St. Bonaventure in the Holiday Festival championship game in New York's Madison Square Garden. The day of the title game, Franklin proclaimed to New York's media that he was the "Big Dog" and he was going to chase the "Big Cat" — St. Bonaventure star center Bob Lanier — all around the court. Franklin chased him all right, but never quite caught him as Lanier put 50 on Franklin and Purdue en route to blowing out the Boilermakers for the tournament title. Just a week earlier, Franklin had been called for goaltending (on a three-quarter court shot that fell four feet short) at the buzzer, causing Purdue to drop a gut wrenching 80-78 decision at Evansville.

Things were not easy for Franklin at Purdue.

"William had to adjust to life in college in all facets of who he was and where he came from," said Ford who averaged 17.0 points and 8.9 for his Boilermaker career. "He was so talented and physical. I knew that from having to face him every day in practice."

It took Franklin until his senior year (1971-72) to overcome some footwork issues that caused him to commit numerous turnovers by traveling as the officiating didn't allow much leeway in those days. But he steadily improved during his time at Purdue and in his senior year it came together when he averaged 18.8 points and 13.6 rebounds in 19 games.

Had Franklin appeared in one more game in 1971-72, the astronomical rebound total would have qualified him for the Purdue record books as the second highest single-season rebounding average in Purdue history behind Terry Dischinger's 14.3 mark in 1960. He had three 20-point, 20-rebound performances (the last one to do it since Swanigan this season) that year as well. Note: Swanigan's current 12.5 rebounds per game in 2016-17 would place him fifth on the single-season rebound average list.

Unfortunately his career was cut short when he prematurely signed with an agent with a handful of games left in the season. He was declared ineligible, but Franklin needed money and didn't know the rules well enough to stop from creating an infraction that would end his college career.

Franklin signed with this hometown team, the Virginia Squires, and played three years and 107 total games finishing his pro career with the San Antonio Spurs.

Little has been known about Franklin's life since his playing days. He is believed to be in the automotive business in San Antonio. Gold and Black will make an attempt to reach him for a more in-depth story in the coming months.

"William never had it easy finding his way at Purdue," Ford said. "But it was as raw a talent as you could find in those days. That is for sure."

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