Syracuse Basketball: New 4-star commit wants to ‘bring home’ national title

New Syracuse basketball 2024 four-star commit Donnie Freeman from Washington, D.C., is ready to get to work and return the Orange to its prior glory days.

The 6-foot-9 power forward, a top-40 national prospect in the junior cycle, verbally committed to the ‘Cuse not too long ago. He picked the Orange over other finalists Alabama, Iowa, Texas and Georgia Tech.

Recently, Freeman made his college decision in a touching commitment announcement via the 247Sports YouTube page.

He talked candidly about his parents and his sister, and their support for him, and also discussed the strong, long-time relationship that he has forged with the Syracuse basketball coaching staff, which is now led by head coach Adrian Autry.

Freeman has a clear message for Orange fans and the rest of the country. “Syracuse basketball is back. We’re coming,” per a tweet from 247Sports national analyst Dushawn London.

New Syracuse basketball four-star commit Donnie Freeman has big objectives on the Hill.

When he revealed his verbal commitment to the ‘Cuse, Freeman said in part that his main goal during his future Orange tenure is to “bring home a national championship.” Sounds good to me and the entirety of ‘Cuse Nation, Donnie!

Since moving from the Big East Conference to the Atlantic Coast Conference starting with the 2013-14 campaign, the Orange has slogged through numerous sub-par regular seasons. That disappointing multi-year performance has been somewhat masked by runs to the Final Four in 2016, as well as to the Sweet 16 in 2018 and 2021.

Over the past two terms, Syracuse basketball has sported a pedestrian 33-32 overall mark while missing the NCAA Tournament in both the 2021-22 and the 2022-23 stanzas.

It remains to be seen how Autry and his staff will fare in the upcoming 2023-24 season and beyond, but Orange coaches do have a nice bit of momentum on the recruiting trail.

Landing Freeman is a major recruiting win. He’s a top-seven power forward in his cycle, as well as the No. 1 prospect in D.C. In the team’s 2024 class, Freeman joins four-star shooting guard Elijah Moore from New York City.

The 6-foot-4 Moore, who verbally committed to Syracuse basketball over Alabama, Arkansas, Miami and Oklahoma State in late January, is a top-70 overall player and a top-20 shooting guard nationwide in the junior cycle.

With Freeman and Moore on board, at present, the Orange’s 2024 class is ranked in the top 10 around the country, according to several recruiting services.

Both of these ‘Cuse verbal pledges had strong 2022-23 junior terms in high school. Freeman helped lead the nationally-ranked St. John’s College High School in D.C. to the 2023 Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (“WCAC”) tournament title.

Moore, on the other hand, was a key contributor this past season as Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx, N.Y., captured the New York “AA” Archdiocesan tournament championship.

Moore and Freeman still have another season to go before they don an Orange uniform. They are a tremendous start to the squad’s 2024 class, and ‘Cuse coaches remain in pursuit of several other top-flight prospects in this cycle.

If Syracuse basketball can add a couple of additional highly rated commits in 2024, I for one believe that Freeman’s goal of bringing a national title to the Hill (or at least journeying to a Final Four) is within reach.