Syracuse Basketball: 5-star Donnie Freeman huge rankings jump into top 15 nationally

Rivals.com has published its final national rankings for the 2024 class, and Syracuse basketball five-star commit Donnie Freeman made one of the largest leaps around the country, the latest reflection of his stellar senior year for a powerhouse program in the Sunshine State.

The 6-foot-9 Freeman, an elite power forward from Washington, D.C., catapulted 41 spots to No. 11 around the country in the Rivals.com final 2024 update, according to Rob Cassidy, who is the basketball recruiting director for that media outlet.

Freeman, who recently earned high praise from NBA scouts and recruiting analysts at the college and high school levels for his performances during the McDonald’s All-America game and other festivities surrounding that annual event, has proven one of the biggest stock-risers in the high school senior cycle over the past year or so.

As Cassidy noted, Freeman “is hitting his stride at the exact right time.”

Syracuse basketball 2024 five-star commit Donnie Freeman is on a roll.

Cassidy and other recruiting experts have said throughout the 2023-24 season that Freeman is an athletic and versatile power forward who has vastly improved his long-range shooting, defends and rebounds well, excels out in transition, and can effectively score in a variety of ways in the paint and further out.

Wrote Cassidy: “Freeman has also become more comfortable putting the ball on the floor and is starting to look like a modern NBA power forward capable of guarding most positions and creating matchup issues. His reliable hands and agility around the rim set him apart, but it seems as though his offensive skill set is still expanding.”

During his senior term at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., Freeman was an All-League performer in the country’s toughest high school hoops conference, and he played a pivotal role as IMG earned a bid earlier this month to the 2024 Chipotle Nationals, an eight-team event held in Brownsburg, Ind., that annually crowns a national champion in high school basketball.

While IMG fell in its opening game at the Chipotle Nationals, Freeman and his teammates did wind up as a top-15 national squad in 2023-24, according to multiple media outlets.

In addition to having him as five stars and No. 11 overall, Rivals.com lists Freeman as the No. 2 power forward in his class.

On3 currently rates him as five stars, No. 10 nationally, No. 1 at power forward and No. 2 in Florida. He’s also five stars, per the industry-generated 247Sports Composite and ESPN.

Freeman is expected to contribute right away for Syracuse basketball in the 2024-25 campaign. He is one of several forwards on the Orange’s roster, along with incumbent starter Chris Bell, a sophomore who is more of a small forward, and four-star transfer Jyáre Davis, a senior at Delaware who can suit up at either the three-spot or the four-spot.

The ’Cuse has two high school seniors in its 2024 recruiting class, the other one being four-star Elijah Moore from New York City, who is a top-60 national prospect and a top-10 shooting guard, according to 247Sports.