Donnie Freeman plays hero, but falls short in long-awaited return
Donnie Freeman scored 18 points against Clemson in his return from injury. But Syracuse fell short after he missed a last-second 3, a shot he said he’d take 100 times over. Matthew Crisafulli | Contributing Photographer
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Donnie Freeman hates being a spectator. Yet for the second straight season, he was one. Syracuse’s highly-touted forward sat and watched nine consecutive games from the bench because of a right foot injury. He said it wasn’t the same right foot injury that sidelined him for 18 games last year. The toll it took on him, however, was similar.
It crushed Freeman’s spirit to not share the floor with his teammates. He knows he’s supposed to be the guy for this SU squad. He said he was emotionally down for a while, seeing comments from social media trolls who claimed he was being intentionally distant from his team — which couldn’t be further from the truth. Freeman leaned on his teammates and coaches, particularly associate athletic trainer Mike Mangano, yet there was some hesitation if he’d be 100% again.
“That’s the hardest part, honestly, the mental aspect of the game and being away, seeing everything that people were saying,” Freeman said. “Not knowing how (I was) going to feel (when I came back), it was very tough.”
Freeman made his long-awaited return from injury off the bench against Clemson Wednesday, just in time for SU’s Atlantic Coast Conference opener. He didn’t score in the first half. Once he saw his first few buckets tear through the net in the second, he felt like himself. And he looked like Superman. Freeman almost single-handedly willed the Orange to salvage overtime against the Tigers, scoring all 18 of his points within the last 12 minutes.
But a scorching-hot second-half shooting performance — 5-for-6 overall, 6-for-6 on free throws and 2-for-3 from 3 — wasn’t enough. Freeman missed a deep 3-pointer from the right wing in the final seconds of Syracuse’s (9-5, 0-1 ACC) 64-61 loss to Clemson (11-3, 1-0 ACC) to begin conference play, the play he’ll remember for the rest of his sophomore year.
Freeman said he’s not mad at his final shot selection; he’d pull the trigger from that look 100 times out of 100. What kept him huffing and puffing in agony postgame was that he couldn’t come through for his teammates one final time on Wednesday afternoon.
For how much time Freeman lost away from the court, he tried to gain it all back against Clemson. In a valiant effort, he fell inches short.
“That shot is one I’ve been shooting since I was 10. The fact that it was in a big moment, I wanted that one to drop so bad,” Freeman said solemnly in SU’s locker room, dressed in all black with strings of his braids hanging over his face. “I mean, I worked so hard to get back to this point, my teammates believed in me, coach (Adrian Autry) believed in me … just wanted that to drop so bad, man.”
Even in defeat, Freeman proved he can be the hero Syracuse needs. It was hard for him to imagine when he’d ever put the cape on again, though, after hurting his right foot during SU’s victory over Monmouth on Nov. 18. He was subsequently ruled out of the Orange’s entire appearance at the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas, where Syracuse went 0-3 without Freeman against top-tier opponents — No. 8 Houston, No. 17 Kansas and No. 3 Iowa State.
He then missed SU’s next six nonconference contests, including a court-storm win over Tennessee and a shocking loss to Hofstra.
It was the same horror movie as last season. As important game after important game got checked off Syracuse’s schedule, Freeman played no part.
“I obviously hurt, but just knowing I can’t be out there for my team was tough,” Freeman said.
Others took notice of Freeman’s dejection.
“It’s always hard, you know. I (had) seen him down,” said freshman guard Kiyan Anthony. “And it’s so sad just because we come here to play basketball and when it just gets taken away from you, it’s pretty sad.”
The recovery for Freeman, though, was relentless. Anthony saw him in the gym every morning before anyone else, receiving treatment from SU’s training staff and working on his rehab procedures. Freeman said he practiced with the Orange for a few weeks prior to his return versus Clemson, even making sure to lower his shoulder at guys and hit the floor so he could trust his physicality — and ensure he was 100% again.
“I was just trying to be the best version of myself and just do everything I can to get better every day,” Freeman said.
Finally, on New Year’s Eve afternoon, Freeman was ready to go. Autry opted to put the 6-foot-9 sophomore on the bench, saying he wants to be cautious with him early. SU’s third-year head coach admitted he was surprised by how well Freeman played in his return, complementing his ability to slow the game down in the second half after an erratic first half.
As for why Freeman played an unexpected 27 minutes, Autry figured it’d be unwise to slow down Syracuse’s freight train with the game on the line.
“Like most players, once they get going, they want to play,” Autry said with a smile.
It took a long time for Freeman to flip the switch, though. He didn’t score a point for the game’s first 28 minutes and five seconds. Syracuse point guard Naithan George said he talked to Freeman at halftime, imploring him to keep being aggressive and that he’ll keep feeding him the ball, because the Orange need their guy.
Sure enough, when the game hung in the balance against the Tigers, Freeman was most certainly all he was advertised to be when he arrived at SU in 2024. The physical big man with range for days posted the gaudiest second-half totals of his college career.
“He opens the game up,” George said. “And he’s a three-level scorer, so just having him back out there was a great addition.”
Clemson head coach Brad Brownell was highly impressed with Freeman’s play. Along with his team-high nine rebounds, stalwart defensive presence, Freeman hit two massive 3-pointers in crunch time, which struck fear into Brownell on the sideline.
“When he starts making those 3s like that, it becomes really hard for our, um …” Brownell said before trailing off. “It’s another level.”
Though the ending will weigh tough on Freeman for a while, he was simply grateful to be back on the floor. Now, he’s determined to capitalize on that chance in the clutch the next time it arrives.
“That last shot, every time I hear about it, it’s tough for me emotionally,” Freeman said. “It was tough knowing what I went through to even get myself back on the floor. Now, it’s such a big opportunity right on my fingertips and it slipped away.
“It’s a tough pill to swallow. But tonight I’m gonna flush it and get ready for Georgia Tech.”
