Syracuse's Donnie Freeman, poised for big season, never considered transferring

Syracuse basketball power forward Donnie Freeman is poised for a big sophomore season, according to some analysts and scouts, including top expert Jamie Shaw of On3/Rivals.

The 6-foot-9, 205-pound Freeman, from my hometown of Washington, D.C., came to the Hill as the No. 6 national prospect in the 2024 class. He started off his freshman campaign in a solid way, but then an unfortunate injury limited him to just 14 games in the 2024-25 season.

At the Atlantic Coast Conference's annual Tipoff event earlier this week in Charlotte, N.C., Freeman said his rehab was tough, but he added, "I'm in a better place than I was before, and I'm excited to get back on the floor."

That's great to hear. If the Orange wants to get back to the NCAA Tournament after missing the last four Big Dances, the 'Cuse will need Freeman to make a large sophomore leap, and he can do that.

Syracuse basketball has an intriguing 2025-26 roster, led by a key returnee in sophomore Donnie Freeman.

Freeman, as a freshman, averaged 13.4 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.4 assists per contest while making 50.4 percent from the field, 79.6 percent from the free-throw line and 33.3 percent from beyond the arc. Those are great numbers.

Once word eventually broke that Freeman would miss the rest of the 2024-25 term, some of my fellow 'Cuse fans were adamant on social media that he would transfer. I countered that I didn't think that would happen, because of how close Freeman is with the Syracuse basketball coaching staff dating back to his high school days.

Freeman said earlier this week that he never considered transferring from the Orange to another program. "Yeah, despite what other people might say or what you might hear, it was a no-brainer for me coming back," Freeman said. "I felt like I had unfinished business here with my team and my coaches. I believe in the staff from top to bottom. I trust them and they trust me as well. This is where I wanted to be, and I felt like I had unfinished business, so it was a no-brainer for me to come back."

See, I was right. Lol.

The 'Cuse has 13 scholarship players in 2025-26, and 11 of them are new to the program. Six are college transfers and five are incoming freshmen. The only two returnees are Freeman and senior shooting guard J.J.Starling. They are the leaders of this team, and Freeman can contend for All-ACC honors as a sophomore.