Syracuse basketball 4-star priority big man, set to visit, wins big D.C. honor

Donnie Freeman, a four-star big man in the 2024 class who plans to take an official visit to Syracuse basketball in the coming days, put forth a standout junior year where he was among the best performers in the talent-rich Washington, D.C., metropolitan region.

Not too long ago, the 6-foot-9 power forward was named by The Washington Post to the media outlet’s All-Met first team for the 2022-23 season.

Earlier this year, Freeman also received inclusion on the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (“WCAC”) All-League first team for the 2022-23 term.

The WCAC, by the way, is absolutely loaded with top-flight schools, including Freeman’s squad, St. John’s College High School in D.C., Gonzaga College High School in Washington, DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Md., and St. Paul VI Catholic High School in Chantilly, Va.

With Freeman leading the charge, St. John’s College High School captured the 2023 WCAC tournament title by upsetting St. Paul VI Catholic High School in the final game, and Freeman tallied 16 points in that encounter.

Syracuse basketball is recruiting 2024 four-star big man Donnie Freeman hard these days.

As far as I can tell, Freeman is one of the top targets for the Orange coaching staff within the 2024 cycle.

Syracuse basketball head coach Adrian Autry recently traveled to St. John’s College High School to meet with Freeman, according to several reports, and this young man plans to take an official visit to the Hill from April 6 to April 8, he has said on Twitter.

Per a tweet in mid-March from high-school hoops analyst Alex Karamanos, Freeman in 2022-23 tallied averages of 21.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.5 blocks per game, which is stellar.

In grassroots basketball, Freeman competes for the D.C.-based Team Takeover in Nike’s EYBL league. Autry was a coach for the Team Takeover program a while back when it was known as Triple Threat.

Additionally, new Syracuse basketball assistant coach Brenden Straughn served as an assistant and later the associate head coach at Team Takeover. So to me, the Orange appears to have a lot working in its favor as it pertains to Freeman’s recruitment.

The ‘Cuse coaching staff offered a scholarship to Freeman back in August of 2021. His full offer sheet includes LSU, Kansas State, Pittsburgh, Iowa, Texas, Rutgers, Marquette, Bryant, Ole Miss, VCU, Norfolk State, Alabama, Maryland, Georgetown, Virginia Tech, Xavier, George Mason and Old Dominion.

Syracuse basketball didn’t make the cut when Freeman disclosed a top five of Rutgers, Maryland, Iowa, LSU and Texas last November, but the following month, he said that his recruitment remained open.

Then, in late January of 2023, SyracuseOnSI publisher Mike McAllister reported that the Orange was back in the mix for Freeman, who at the time of this writing was rated No. 28 across the country, No. 4 at power forward and No. 1 in the District of Columbia within the 2024 class, per the industry-generated 247Sports Composite.