Syracuse Basketball: 5-star big man eyes official visit to Hill in ‘near future’

The first scholarship offer that the Syracuse basketball coaching staff made to a high-school prospect in the 2024 class went out to five-star big man Donnie Freeman from Washington, D.C., with that offer arriving last August during the Orange’s annual Elite Camp.

As far as I can tell, ever since, the ‘Cuse has prioritized the 6-foot-9 power forward, who is a rising junior at St. John’s College High School in D.C. and suits up in grassroots basketball for the Washington-based Team Takeover in Nike’s EYBL league.

When recently asked on Twitter by a Syracuse basketball fan when he’s planning to take an official visit to the Orange campus, Freeman responded, “Near future stay tuned.”

Obviously, that’s highly encouraging news, as Freeman is a consensus top-35 national prospect in the 2024 class and has long-term pro potential, experts say.

Competition, though, is heating up for Syracuse basketball five-star recruit Donnie Freeman.

I’ve noted on numerous occasions that I’m really high on Freeman. It’s also likely a positive sign that Orange coaches began pursuing him relatively early on in Freeman’s recruiting process.

However, in mid-June, college coaches could begin initiating direct communication with 2024 players, and undeniably Freeman is going to see many more big-time offers come his way.

According to his Twitter page, just since June 15, Freeman has picked up offers from teams such as Texas, Rutgers, Marquette, Bryant, Ole Miss, VCU and Norfolk State.

Besides Syracuse basketball, other squads that had previously offered Freeman included Alabama, Maryland, Georgetown, Virginia Tech, Xavier, George Mason and Old Dominion.

Freeman made an unofficial visit to Maryland at the end of June. We’ll certainly continue to monitor if and when he ends up traveling to Central New York for a visit.

He has earned a ton of praise from national analysts and scouts in recent months for his performances at various AAU competitions and other events, including the recently held Philly Live showcase in Philadelphia during an NCAA live period, the Pangos All-American Camp in Las Vegas, and the Mayhem in Maryland event in Baltimore.

Since Syracuse basketball coaches can now reach out directly to Freeman, I would imagine that they will begin to ramp up their recruitment of him.

At the time that I penned this column, the industry-generated 247Sports Composite rated Freeman at No. 25 nationally, while the industry-generated On3 Consensus had him at No. 31.

Individual recruiting rankings for Freeman check in at No. 20 via ESPN, No. 24 at Rivals.com and No. 33 over at 247Sports.

"Freeman, who certainly seems to have aspirations of getting to the NBA, said in a recent interview with Rivals.com basketball recruiting director Rob Cassidy, “The most important thing is seeing that a school has gotten players like me to the next level.”"