Syracuse Orange freshman Donnie Freeman arrived in Central New York as a highly touted talent. Listed as the 6th best recruit in his class by ESPN and the 4th best recruit in Syracuse program history by 24/7 Sports, Freeman was projected to contend for the ACC all-rookie spot and listed as someone who could hear his name called in the 2025 NBA draft. That being said, the hype around Freeman was dampened through the opening stages of the 2024-25 season and seems to have completely dissipated since a foot injury has kept him out for multiple weeks.
Donnie Freeman’s Draft Stock Was Declining Amidst Syracuse’s Disappointing Start
A disappointing year for the Syracuse Orange has led to noise around the job security of head coach Adrian Autry. Freeman has certainly been culpable for mental mistakes on defense and shaky turnovers on the offensive end. A right foot injury that has kept Freeman sidelined and in a walking boot has seen the freshman miss nine straight games. Some signs now suggest that Freeman’s season is over. Syracuse had a 6-8 record when Freeman last played and is now 10-13 after a blowout loss at home against #2 Duke.
Early in the season, Freeman’s stock was on the decline for several reasons. Firstly, his shooting was ice cold, and he was a lowly 6-19 from the field through his first two games. In Syracuse’s fourth game of the season against the Texas Longhorns, Freeman was benched for long periods in the second half following a sluggish first half and impressive play from Delaware transfer Jyare Davis, who has now replaced Freeman in the starting lineup.
Autry specifically mentioned rebounding as something that Freeman needed to continue to improve at. As previously mentioned, Freeman also has work to do on the defensive end, as both his on-ball and help defense left a lot to be desired. Even on a Syracuse team that was one of the worst scoring defenses in the country, Freeman was sat for lack of attention to detail on that end.
Syracuse men’s basketball head coach Adrian Autry says Donnie Freeman only played 18 minutes against Georgetown today because Jyare Davis and Lucas Taylor “knew what [the team was] doing defensively.”
— Cuse Sports Talk (@CuseSportsTalk_) December 14, 2024
A player who struggled through 14 games and then suffered a season-ending injury is not likely to wow a lot of NBA teams. His name is no longer a frequent one in mock drafts, although he is still included in some as a late second-round pick. Some speculate that Freeman, who was regarded as a likely one-and-done type of player, may be forced to return to school if he wants to find his way back into the first round.
There’s Still A Lot To Like With Syracuse’s Donnie Freeman
Despite the struggles and the injury that have significantly impacted his NBA draft stock, there are still plenty of things to like about the 6 foot 9 forward. Firstly, his three-point shooting was improving as the season wore on. Freeman always had good mechanics, but after starting the year shooting just 2/19 from outside, he shot an impressive 52.9% on almost 3 attempts per game from deep in his last six games played, including a 4/4 performance against Albany.
BALLED OUT 🪣🏀
Donnie Freeman scored a game-high 24 points, shooting 4-4 from behind the three-point line, while adding eight rebounds, a block, and an assist @Cuse_MBB | @Cuse pic.twitter.com/jexdaS4C41
— ACC Digital Network (@theACCDN) December 11, 2024
The other impressive thing Freeman was doing on offensive was finding ways to score without designed touches. When Syracuse’s leading scorer, JJ Starling, was out with a broken hand, Freeman did not have much offense run through him outside of sporadic wing touches and some short corner isolations against smaller defenders. However, Freeman was still doing a lot of damage by being in the right positions near the rim, capitalizing on simple dump-off passes, getting easy looks when running hard in transition, and feasting on offensive putbacks.
As much as NBA teams will love prospects who make difficult shots in isolation, there is also tremendous value in a player who can help a team on offense without needing a huge volume of shots.
Donnie Freeman’s performance in Syracuse’s win against Bucknell today:
15 points
11 rebounds
3 assists
1 steal
2/4 3PM (50%)
5/10 FGM (50%)
27 minutes🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/cMW8NGHP0X
— Draftstack (@TheDraftstack) December 28, 2024
Positional flexibility is another thing that Freeman brings to the table. In the Orange starting lineup, Freeman was typically positioned in the 4 spot of a traditional power forward, leaving transfer Eddie Lampkin Jr. to play as the center. However, Freeman frequently manned the 5 spot in smaller lineups to great effect, as his long frame allows him to contend with many college bigs. This versatility will definitely excite NBA executives.
At the end of the day, Freeman has an impressive skillset and shows plenty of potential to be a good player on both ends. The foot injury has taken away a lot of his freshman season, and this may result in him returning to school for another year. After all, Syracuse figures to be much better next year thanks to incoming recruits like Sadiq White and Kiyan Anthony, both of whom earned invites to the 2025 Iverson Classic All-American Game. There is optimism around next year for the Orange that Freeman could use to bolster his own position.
Coach Autry has mentioned an upcoming announcement on if Freeman will return this season or not. Syracuse fans will hope to see him back on the court before year’s end and would love to see him come back to Central New York as a sophomore, where he could potentially restore his first round status in time for the 2026 NBA Draft.
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