Syracuse Basketball: 4-star commit Donnie Freeman snubbed by Naismith mid-season list

Syracuse basketball commit Donnie Freeman, who is having a strong senior year at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., after winning an AAU title last summer, got hosed in recent days when he was left off the mid-season watch list for the 2024 Naismith player of the year award.

In mid-November, the 6-foot-9, four-star power forward was on the 50-person watch list for this annual award honoring the top player in high school basketball.

However, not too long ago, the 25-person mid-season watch list for this season’s Naismith Trophy was disclosed, and unfortunately, Freeman didn’t make the cut.

While IMG isn’t having a terrific 2023-24 stanza at this juncture, Freeman has by and large proven fantastic against elite competition in his senior year.

I counted five former Orange recruiting targets who are on the Naismith Trophy mid-season team.

Syracuse basketball 2024 four-star commit Donnie Freeman got snubbed.

Freeman, who is from Washington, D.C., is rated as a top-30 national prospect in the 2024 cycle by several recruiting services. Both he and fellow Orange 2024 commit Elijah Moore, a four-star shooting guard, have officially signed with the ‘Cuse and recently received McDonald’s All-American nominations.

This year’s 24 high school boys who will be McDonald’s All-Americans are scheduled to find out during a reveal show on ESPN in the afternoon of Tuesday, Jan. 23.

While Moore, a New York City native, is a top-60 overall player in his cycle, I do not expect him to land an invite to the 2024 McDonald’s All-America game, which will take place on Tuesday, April 2, at the Toyota Center in Houston.

Freeman, though, does have a shot. I don’t think it’s by any means a lock that he will get named a McDonald’s All-American for the 2023-24 season, but his excellent senior term at IMG definitely makes him a legit candidate, in my humble opinion.

I also thought that Freeman’s production in 2023-24 made him absolutely deserving of landing on the Naismith’s mid-season watch list.

IMG, by the way, competes in the country’s top high school hoops conference, the 14-member Nike Elite Youth Basketball League Scholastic (“EYBL Scholastic”).

At the time of this writing, within the EYBL Scholastic, Freeman was in the top 10 in points per game, the top 5 in rebounds per game, the top 15 in field-goal percentage, the top 15 in minutes per game, and the top 25 in blocks per game.

Last weekend, Freeman and numerous Syracuse basketball recruiting targets suited up at the prestigious Spalding Hoophall Classic, an annual showcase held in Springfield, Mass.

Multiple national analysts and scouts praised Freeman for his play at the Hoophall Classic.

While Freeman’s inclusion or lack of inclusion on the Naismith Trophy’s mid-season watch list is based on his senior year at IMG, he has had a terrific overall high school career.

Last July, he helped lead the Washington-based Team Takeover to the 17U Peach Jam championship on Nike’s EYBL circuit.

Before transferring to IMG, Freeman as a junior guided St. John’s College High School from D.C. to a 32-4 record, a top-25 national ranking, and the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (“WCAC”) tournament crown.

By the way, former Orange targets who were named to the Naismith Trophy’s mid-season watch list included 2024 five-star guard Jalil Bethea (committed to Miami), 2024 five-star guard Ian Jackson (North Carolina), 2024 five-star power forward/center Derik Queen, 2025 five-star shooting guard Darryn Peterson, and 2024 five-star point guard Boogie Fland (Kentucky).