Syracuse Basketball: 4-star big man has top 5, sets date, Orange with buzz

Syracuse basketball coaches will soon know whether they have added a second high-school player to their 2024 recruiting cycle.

Four-star junior Donnie Freeman from Washington, D.C., one of the top power forwards in the 2024 class, said via Twitter that he plans to make his commitment announcement on Thursday, May 11, at 3:30 pm EST.

The 6-foot-9 Freeman, a top-40 national prospect, a top-seven power forward and the No. 1 player in D.C. within the junior cycle, per most recruiting services, has a final five of the Orange, Alabama, Iowa, Texas and Georgia Tech.

Freeman, who has been pursued by the ‘Cuse for a while now, has taken official visits to all of these suitors, except Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets only recently offered him a scholarship, in late April, according to Freeman’s Twitter page.

He took an official visit to the Hill in early April. Lately, Syracuse basketball coaches have traveled to our nation’s capital twice to meet with Freeman, and the Orange was in attendance when he competed on the AAU circuit in late April during NCAA live periods.

Syracuse basketball coaches appear to be in strong shape with 2024 four-star power forward Donnie Freeman.

When I wrote this column on Monday afternoon, at least four predictions had arrived in the direction of the Orange in Freeman’s recruitment between the 247Sports Web site and Rivals.com. Additionally, at the time of this writing, the ‘Cuse held a small lead over Alabama, according to On3’s recruiting prediction machine.

Freeman is a standout for St. John’s College High School in D.C. and the Washington-based Team Takeover in Nike’s EYBL league. Syracuse basketball head coach Adrian Autry and assistant coach Brenden Straughn both have deep recruiting ties in our nation’s capital and previously served as assistants with the Team Takeover program.

Additionally, not too long ago, the Orange coaching staff offered scholarships to a pair of Freeman’s Team Takeover colleagues, 2024 four-star guard/small forward Caleb Williams and 2024 four-star center Patrick Ngongba II.

Syracuse basketball offered a scholarship to Freeman back in August of 2021, and I believed it was the first offer made by the Orange to a prospect in the 2024 class.

According to recruiting services, Freeman has picked up nearly 20 offers from a range of high-major squads throughout his recruiting process. I do not have inside intel regarding his recruitment, but if I had to venture a guess, I’d say that the biggest competition for Syracuse basketball to win out here is Alabama.

As a junior in the 2022-23 campaign, Freeman earned numerous local, regional and national honors in helping guide St. John’s College High School to a national ranking as well as the 2023 Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (“WCAC”) tournament title.

Without question, if the Orange were to land him, that would prove huge for the team’s 2024 class. At present, in this cycle, Syracuse basketball has a verbal commitment from lethal four-star shooting guard Elijah Moore from New York City.