Syracuse basketball with a slight lead for 4-star Donnie Freeman, per On3

With 2024 four-star big man Donnie Freeman from Washington, D.C., set to officially visit Syracuse basketball later this week, the Orange has moved out in front in his recruitment, according to the On3 recruiting prediction machine.

On March 30, the 6-foot-9 power forward said on Twitter that he plans to take an official visit to the Hill from April 6 to April 8.

That same day, per the On3 recruiting prediction machine, Syracuse basketball replaced Alabama as the new “leader” in Freeman’s recruiting process. Of course, this in no way means that Donnie Freeman is going to commit to the ‘Cuse, but it is a good sign for the Orange.

When I penned this column on Sunday afternoon, the On3 recruiting prediction machine had Syracuse basketball at 24.3 percent in his recruitment, followed by Alabama at 21.3 percent, Iowa at 18.2 percent, Texas at 15.2 percent, and Maryland at 10.3 percent.

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

Donnie Freeman made an official visit to the Crimson Tide earlier this year. He has also taken official visits to schools such as Iowa and Texas. Freeman has unofficially visited Maryland and others.

Under his bio on the 247Sports Web site, the interest level is listed as “warm” between Freeman and two suitors, Alabama and Syracuse basketball. But in all fairness, to date, I have not seen any official analyst predictions for Donnie Freeman from recruiting insiders on the 247Sports Web site, Rivals.com or the On3 Web site.

Recently, Donnie Freeman was named to The Washington Post’s All-Met first team for the 2022-23 season, when he shined as a junior for St. John’s College High School in D.C. He is also on the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (“WCAC”) All-League first team for 2022-23.

As a junior, per high-school hoops analyst Alex Karamanos, Donnie Freeman averaged 21.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.5 blocks per game for St. John’s College High School, which was nationally ranked for much of this past term.

Syracuse basketball recruiting enthusiasts, myself included, are excited about the possibility of the ‘Cuse coaching staff ultimately prevailing for Freeman, who is No. 28 across the country, No. 4 at power forward and No. 1 in the District of Columbia within the 2024 class, according to the industry-generated 247Sports Composite.

Orange head coach Adrian Autry recently met with Donnie Freeman at his high school. Now Freeman, who plays on the AAU circuit for the Washington-based Team Takeover in Nike’s EYBL league, is coming to Central New York for an official visit.

Both Autry and new Syracuse basketball assistant coach Brenden Straughn have coached for the Team Takeover program in the past.

Orange coaches 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, last November, wasn’t in Freeman’s disclosed top five of Rutgers, Maryland, Iowa, LSU and Texas. 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. I’ll certainly monitor how his official visit to the ‘Cuse goes.

Nothing is a given in the fickle recruiting world, however, I do think that Syracuse basketball has an excellent shot to win out for Donnie Freeman.