Donnie Freeman in the portal

[tptcuse]

What a weird tenure at cuse for Donnie

I feel bad for him in a way. Injured twice and seemed to really believe in Red. It seems like his college career has not gone anywhere near the way he and others expected it to go.

 

[djorange1989]

Wish him well, this is good for both sides

 

[LpoolNative]

Freeman on his way to an SEC school just to put up worse numbers and play far less.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I feel bad for him in a way. Injured twice and seemed to really believe in Red. It seems like his college career has not gone anywhere near the way he and others expected it to go.

Yeah this is where I am.

He definitely mailed it in at a certain point.

That said... I get it.

 

[Orangezoo]

Nothing.

But he's a legit 6-10 with stretch four capabilities. He has not fully "grown" into his physique yet, either.

On the other hand, he shies away from contact, has yet to prove that he can be an inside-out player, and doesn't defend. At all.

Which is why he needs to go somewhere like Alabama [just for example, since they recruited him heavily out of HS] where he is going to get pushed to work hard, and play within a structured offensive concept.

If he does, then I would see him in the NBA. He's a former McD's all american -- so some team out there will take a chance on him in terms of NIL.

Tools are there, not sure about the attitude.

I think he would get pushed hard with a solid offensive system here too given the staff additions but doing so with a change of scenery is probably better. If he ends up somewhere like UK…

 

[swish7]

Good luck to him.

 

[sufan59]

The headliner of the Autry era. If it were to work out we never would’ve made a coaching change. Yeah Donnie put up some numbers, but was never the leader and program role model that was needed and probably expected for a recruit of his calliber to deliver Red successful results. So yeah of course he isn’t going to make it through a coaching change. Would be stunned if Syracuse attempted and successfully flips him back. For Donnie, I’m choosing the hard coach and maybe lesser play and promises option on a good team versus a continuation of his situation similar to the Cuse even if the pay check is a little bit more. He has all the tools in the world to be the real deal, he needs an old school coach to unlock it. Rick Pitino would do wonders for him if Pitino opened the door. My own honest opinion. I don’t think Pope and Kentucky is going to change his trajectory even though I don’t think he will be THE featured player with Pope.

 

[NailCreekPub]

The unnatural sway of his upper body when walking just never seemed right to me. I don't know what the issue was or if there even was an issue. it just made me feel something was off physically or at best not efficient.

 

[RedtheGOB]

What a weird tenure at cuse for Donnie

I think people need to watch his highlight reel here.

It’s all just him playing around at the 3 point line shooting 3’s against terrible teams.

The last team I remember him playing hard against was when he came back from injury and that was the 2nd half of Clemson. He was battling inside. Then it never happened again.

 

[SaveSUHoops]

Or, the staff thinks he has the talent (cupboard isn't bare part) but didn't feel the value was there relative to the NIL part of the equation. Or, Freeman was asked to stay, but wants to test the market.

Presupposing that GMac was deliberately misrepresenting the talent in the cupboard seems like the least likely assumption.

I've never questioned Donnie's talent. As others have said in this thread, he's had a difficult career here dealing with injuries and I believe that got to him mentally last season like we saw with JJ. I don't doubt for a second that the two of them wanted to get Autry and the team to the tournament, but couldn't overcome certain challenges and it resulted in the total tailspin we saw play out to end the year.

I'm glad G-Mac is overhauling the roster and bringing in players he wants. It will be difficult to manage the budget bringing in what will essentially be an entirely new roster but seems like it was best for Donnie to play elsewhere.

 

[jsshap]

View attachment 262073

Freeman on his way to an SEC school just to put up worse numbers and play far less.

What a likable fan base we are not

 

[BomberOrange]

Providence?

 

[orangepassion]

G-Mac’s strength is getting players to play hard. I would have liked to see that come to fruition here

 

[007]

I really don't know what he has done the last two seasons that screams to pay him two or three million in NIL.

17/7 playing in the ACC is what will get him paid. Whether he is "worth" what he gets is a different debate.

The emotional reactions to DF's season - to be clear, not entirely unjustified - tend to cloud objectivity. Programs are going to look at his productivity in that dysfunctional offense and project that he is worth the risk once he is in their culture and system.

 

[cusefan88]

Donnie needs a coach that will demand a ton and push him. Red was not that guy. He's immensely talented hope he has a great finish to his college career wherever that may be.

 

[Newhouser]

Watching bigs last night work for position down low, executing low post moves and playing thru contact...none of that is in Donnie's bag and don't even get me started on his handle.

His future is bright IF he develops a motor and I'm on record that isn't always easy.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

Nothing.

But he's a legit 6-10 with stretch four capabilities. He has not fully "grown" into his physique yet, either.

On the other hand, he shies away from contact, has yet to prove that he can be an inside-out player, and doesn't defend. At all.

Which is why he needs to go somewhere like Alabama [just for example, since they recruited him heavily out of HS] where he is going to get pushed to work hard, and play within a structured offensive concept.

If he does, then I would see him in the NBA. He's a former McD's all american -- so some team out there will take a chance on him in terms of NIL.

Tools are there, not sure about the attitude.

And I should have said in my comment, that in retrospect, Syracuse was probably not a good fit for Donnie. There is really no evidence that the coaches pushed him hard on either end of the floor. But, that said, as much as Nate Oats believes in his own coaching ability, would he put Donnie as his number one NIL target.

 

[sufan59]

Donnie needs a coach that will demand a ton and push him. Red was not that guy. He's immensely talented hope he has a great finish to his college career wherever that may be.

Pope is not that guy either. He needs an a hole coach.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I'll call it now - he goes to Providence with Hodgson.

 

[LpoolNative]

What a likable fan base we are not

Ignore button is your friend

 

[RF2044]

The headliner of the Autry era. If it were to work out we never would’ve made a coaching change. Yeah Donnie put up some numbers, but was never the leader and program role model that was needed and probably expected for a recruit of his calliber to deliver Red successful results. So yeah of course he isn’t going to make it through a coaching change. Would be stunned if Syracuse attempted and successfully flips him back. For Donnie, I’m choosing the hard coach and maybe lesser play and promises option on a good team versus a continuation of his situation similar to the Cuse even if the pay check is a little bit more. He has all the tools in the world to be the real deal, he needs an old school coach to unlock it. Rick Pitino would do wonders for him if Pitino opened the door. My own honest opinion. I don’t think Pope and Kentucky is going to change his trajectory even though I don’t think he will be THE featured player with Pope.

"Headliner."

One of the biggest fallacies IMO of the Autry era was that he was a good recruiter. We got that impression right out of the box in 2023, when he took over. In rapid succession, he landed Donnie, JJ, and Westry.

Boom -- things looked phenomenal.

But when you peel the onion back a little...

We landed Donnie almost entirely because of Straughn, he was injured both years, and barely played a season. He was part of two teams with losing records both years.

JJ was a McDonald's All American -- so cool! But then he got here and proved to be damaged goods.

Westry was injured two years and didn't score a point.

So the big three of recruits Autry landed didn't collectively do much. And the recruits around them were a similar mixed bag of results.

At the beginning, it seemed like Straughn might be the type of bulldog recruiter who could help us take things to the next level. He got off to a good start with Freeman, but then whiffed on every other TTO prospect we pursued.

As stated, it was a fallacy.

 

[EnviroSciGuy]

I hope DF can find a good situation elsewhere that maximizes his talents and earning potential down the road. Lots of talent, but also some bad habits to break out of.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

His future is bright IF he develops a motor and I'm on record that isn't always easy.

And now that he has two different leg injuries is that a factor to prevent him from going all out all the time

 

[phil77]

17/7 playing in the ACC is what will get him paid. Whether he is "worth" what he gets is a different debate.

The emotional reactions to DF's season - to be clear, not entirely unjustified - tend to cloud objectivity. Programs are going to look at his productivity in that dysfunctional offense and project that he is worth the risk once he is in their culture and system.

Correct we can complain about Freeman all we want. He wasn't this and wasn't that. He didn't try the hardest and wasn't physical enough etc etc. Other teams will see all that on tape, and he will get paid because, despite all that, he was one of the few players in the ACC who put up 17/7. They will always gamble on talent.

 

[granthath9]

I'll call it now - he goes to Providence with Hodgson.

He’s already been linked to Kentucky and Michigan. Alabama will probably be in the mix too like others said. He’s not transferring down.