Syracuse Basketball: 4-star, top-25 prospect is high on the Orange system

Syracuse basketball (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
Syracuse basketball (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)

Donnie Freeman, a four-star player in the 2024 class, said in a recent interview with a national recruiting analyst that Syracuse basketball is among the college squads that he hears from the most.

While that’s always encouraging to see, the 6-foot-9 power forward is just a sophomore in high school, and his recruitment likely has a long way to go.

So while it’s a positive sign that the Orange coaching staff got involved with Freeman early on, I would imagine many more high-major offers are going to arrive for the sophomore out of St. John’s College High School in Washington, D.C.

‘Cuse coaches offered Freeman at the team’s annual Elite Camp this past August. We recently detailed how the 2024 prospect performed quite well at a prestigious holiday tournament, where he caught the attention of a highly regarded national analyst.

Check out what four-star Donnie Freeman said about Syracuse basketball.

In a recent interview with Rivals.com national analyst Jamie Shaw, Freeman said that, these days, he hears the most from the Orange, Maryland and Georgetown.

Freeman’s scholarship offers, by the way, include from Syracuse basketball, Georgetown, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Virginia Tech, Xavier, George Mason and Old Dominion.

Freeman, who is rated in the top-25 across the country in his class by recruiting services such as ESPN and Rivals.com, said to Shaw that he’s talking to other schools like Xavier, LSU and Penn State a lot as well.

The Rivals.com analyst noted that Freeman made a name for himself among coaches and scouts when he competed for the D.C.-based Team Takeover over the summer in AAU events.

Current Orange freshman forward Benny Williams, a five-star, top-25 player in the 2021 recruiting cycle, played for Team Takeover. So has 2022 commit Justin Taylor, a four-star wing, along with others like Jerami Grant, who played two seasons on the Hill and stars in the NBA now.

Over the years, Syracuse basketball coaches have fared well picking up high-school recruits in the talent-filled Washington metropolitan area, and I could absolutely envision the ‘Cuse being a big-time contender for Freeman.

"In the Rivals.com article, Freeman said of Syracuse basketball, “They have a lot of players like me, with the long and wiry frame; Jerami Grant, Benny Williams. So I think I fit their play style and what they do. I like it there.”"