Just months after departing as boys head basketball coach at Potomac School, Levi Franklin will be back on the bench — on the other side of the Potomac — this winter.
Franklin recently was hired as the head coach of the MacArthur Mammoths’ public-school boys team in D.C. He will remain at Potomac School as a math teacher and defensive coordinator with the varsity football team.
MacArthur is a new high school near Georgetown University that opened in 2023. It primarily has freshman and sophomore students with a few juniors, and is just getting its athletic program started.
MacArthur basketball will field only a junior-varsity team this coming season, becoming a varsity program for the 2025-26 campaign. Franklin was hired to basically start the program, something he’s excited about.
“This will be something different, a chance to build a program from the start,” Franklin said. “There are no expectations but I like what we have the opportunity to do there.”
Franklin was the head coach of the Potomac School Panthers varsity team in McLean over the past 15 years. He held the same positions previously at St. Paul VI Catholic in Northern Virginia and Crossland High School in Prince George’s County, Md. His high-school teams have won 495 games during his 34 seasons on the bench as a head coach.
Franklin was asked about taking the job during the spring by MacArthur athletic director Kenny Watson. The two met during their involvement with AAU basketball.
“I’d just stepped down from Potomac School, and I told Kenny I needed a little time to breathe,” Franklin said. “He said ‘I have oxygen for you,’ we kept talking for a while, and I eventually decided to do this.”
Franklin has assembled many of the assistant coaches he had at Potomac School. He already has met some of his MacArthur players and likes what he has seen and learned about them.
“The kids are awesome. We’re going to see what they can do,” Franklin said.
MacArthur will play as many as 26 games this season against other D.C. public-school teams and maybe some private school squads from the metro area. Practice begins Nov. 4 and the Mammoths’ first game is Dec. 9. Franklin expects to have a large roster, wanting to keep as many players as possible involved with the program.
MacArthur also has a girls basketball team along with soccer, girls volleyball and track-and-field programs.
