Syracuse basketball sophomore power forward Donnie Freeman is headed to the Orange's former stomping ground.
Word broke on Monday that Freeman will transfer to Big East Conference member St. John's, whose head coach, Rick Pitino, is a former 'Cuse assistant from the late 1970s. The 6-foot-9, 205-pound Freeman, who hails from Washington, D.C., considered several other schools, such as Kentucky, during his transfer portal recruiting process.
A huge congrats to Donnie! The portal opened on April 7 and will run through Tuesday, April 21. SU's roster in the 2025-26 campaign, when Syracuse basketball went 15-17 overall, included 13 main scholarship players.
Three of them have exhausted their eligibility, two are returning and eight have entered the portal, although redshirt senior Nate Kingz would need a waiver from the NCAA to play another term of Division I hoops.
Former Syracuse basketball big man Donnie Freeman is transferring to St. John's.
Freeman was a consensus five-star prospect in the 2024 cycle and ranked as high as No. 6 nationally in that class. He came to the Hill as the highest-rated signee for SU dating back to Carmelo Anthony in the 2002-03 season, when Syracuse basketball won the national title.
Unfortunately, Freeman's time in Central New York was hindered by injuries. He only appeared in 14 games as a freshman and missed nine contests as a sophomore. In the 2025-26 stanza, Freeman averaged 31.3 minutes, 16.5 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists per contest while making 47.4 percent from the field, 30.2 percent from beyond the arc and 76.7 percent from the free-throw line.
The talent is clearly there for Donnie. From my perspective, he needs to continue working on his defense, while never taking a play off and always hustling for 50/50 balls and things along those lines. To that end, Pitino is a terrific fit for Freeman, as the Hall of Fame head coach is big on his guys playing hard-nosed defense while often implementing his vaunted full-court press.
St. John's was excellent in 2025-26, going 30-7 overall and winning the Big East regular-season and conference tournament championships. As a No. 5 seed in the 2026 NCAA Tournament, the Red Storm made the Sweet 16, falling to No. 1 seed Duke in the regional semifinals. St. John's was No. 10 in the final Associated Press and Coaches top-25 polls.
Freeman's decision to transfer from Syracuse basketball this offseason wasn't a surprise. He was extremely close with former Orange head coach Adrian Autry and former assistant Brenden Straughn, given the DMV ties of those two coaches and Freeman.
Source told @thefieldof68 that a huge factor in Donnie Freeman choosing St. John's over Kentucky was Rick Pitino.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) April 21, 2026
"He wanted a guy that would coach him hard, and wanted someone who had coached pros."
Freeman had this to say in an interview with Sydney Cuillier of 247Sports: "I realized it was time to leave Syracuse during the coaching change. I played under a great coach for two years, and when they moved on from him, I realized I had to do what was best for me."
He added, "I believe in what Rick Pitino is doing. He is a high-level coach, and I believe he can get me to the next point in my career."
In national transfer rankings from 247Sports, Freeman checks in as four stars, No. 15 overall and No. 6 at power forward.
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