For the first time in a while, Syracuse has a player in the McDonald’s All-American game as five-star signee Donnie Freeman plays in high school basketball’s biggest showcase Tuesday night in front of the entire country. The lanky, athletic forward has been getting rave reviews all weekend long for his performance in practice and scrimmages, a welcome sight for Syracuse fans dwelling on the departures of Gerry McNamara, Maliq Brown, Quadir Copeland, and Justin Taylor.
“Another player who has helped himself thus far, first in the practices and then in the scrimmages, is Syracuse signee Donnie Freeman,” Adam Finkelstein of 247 Sports wrote. “It started from the moment the players first walked onto the court Saturday night. How could that be? Because it immediately became clear whose height was an exaggeration and whose wasn’t. Freeman is one of the tallest players here. The fact that he’s been shooting the ball consistently from three and showing some lateral mobility for his size has only added to the intrigue thus far.”
Not only is Freeman making the most of his opportunity, but he knows what it means to be selected for the game among the best players at his age in the country, and how it can translate as he starts playing college basketball in the Fall.
“I always want to play against the top players in the country, to compete against the best,” Freeman said via syracuse.com. “Me being here was really fun and on top of that being a childhood dream, you can’t really put a price tag on stuff like this. Overall, it was a great experience for me.”
With Syracuse having lost four players to the transfer portal already, including three rotation players, along with its associate head coach, there is a lot of change happening in the program. But Freeman, even with his level of talent, isn’t feeling much pressure to carry a heavier load because of those departures.
“Not really, I know it’s a level that I’m held to and a standard I’m held to but for me at the end of the day it’s just basketball,” Freeman said via 247 Sports. “It’s still a game for me, it’s still fun so I never really feel pressure to do anything. I know the standard that I hold myself to so I don’t feel pressure but I do hold myself to a high standard expecting to come in and do big things for the program.”
