Donnie Freeman earns ACC Co-Rookie of the Week honors
Leonardo Eriman I Staff Photographer
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Syracuse freshman Donnie Freeman earned Atlantic Coast Conference Co-Rookie of the Week honors alongside Cal’s Jeremiah Wilkinson, the conference announced Monday. The honor comes after Freeman scored a career-high 23 points while pulling in 12 rebounds, in Syracuse’s 82-72 win over Cornell Wednesday.
Freeman’s performance marked the best of his young career. The forward entered as the No. 15 overall recruit according to 247Sports, SU’s highest since Carmelo Anthony. Early in the season, Freeman is still looking to build consistency. His 19-point, 12-rebound performance against Youngstown State on Nov. 16 helped SU escape with a win, but against Colgate and Texas, he only registered 15 minutes. On Wednesday, his inside presence was crucial as Syracuse got by Cornell.
“I thought Donnie realized that he had an advantage inside, and he went inside and he scored,” Syracuse head coach Adrian Autry said following SU’s victory over Cornell. “Obviously, (there’s) some stuff defensively as a freshman, he’s going to make some hiccups. I understand that. But I thought he really did a good job of getting inside.”
Through six games, Freeman is averaging 12 points and 9.2 rebounds per game while shooting 44.3% from the floor and only 19% from 3. He’s the first Syracuse player to earn a weekly honor this year.
Published on December 2, 2024 at 4:30 pm
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