Freeman seeing renewed interest

At first, he wasn't even sure he should go to Hutchinson Community College (Kan.). But after one season, forward Deshawn Freeman is already a better player as a result and a hot commodity on the recruiting trail.

At first, he wasn't even sure he should go to Hutchinson Community College (Kan.). But after one season, forward Deshawn Freeman is already a better player as a result and a hot commodity on the recruiting trail.

Though admittedly, he isn't sure of his next step, Freeman has six offers and is working on more. Now, he's simply trying to make sense of his recruitment.

Coming out of Rocky Mount Prep (NC), Freeman fell short of qualifying academically for college. He knew he'd be headed to the junior college level, but he wasn't sure where that would be.

"At one point, I was deciding to go to Northwest Florida before I went to Hutch," Freeman said. "I had a couple of more schools, like Chipotle (Fla.) and Hutch was my last option. My mother just kept telling me, I didn't need to go that far. Where we live, it's like 21 hours, basically a day of driving. My mother was kinda afraid for me to go far out. But I have an older brother who plays with me at Hutch. They said they'd take him, too and that was another reason I came. I think I made a good decision. During high school, schools wanted me to come to their schools even though I wouldn't qualify, to redshirt. But everybody had different things to say and I was confused. But I think I made a good decision."

After a strong freshman season in which he averaged 16.4 points and six rebounds in just 17 games, Freeman has seen college interest in his game spike. He now has offers from Virginia Tech, Cincinnati, Nebraska, Arizona State, VCU and Tennessee State, but Freeman is going about his recruitment slowly.

"I don't even know what I'm looking for," he said. "That's why I ask a lot of questions when I talk to a coach, to see how many students attend there, how the coaching staff is, that kind of stuff. I do know I'm more of a fast-paced type of offensive guy."

Freeman said he does know of the successful history coach Buzz Williams and assistant coach Isaac Chew have with junior college players. The coaches also reminded Freeman of that when they've spoken with him.

"When they first came and talked to me, they mentioned all the JUCO guys they've had that have gone to the league," Freeman said. "I was pretty familiar with the guys they've coached. Buzz, he's a pretty good coach and I like him so far."

Louisville, Tennessee, SMU and East Carolina have also been showing interest in Freeman. But if there's one program that at least has caught his attention, it's been the Hokies.

"Virginia Tech, I'm really cool with Coach Buzz and Coach Chew," Freeman said. "They've really been hitting me up and coming at me pretty hard. Tennessee hits me up hard, too, but Virginia Tech, it's one of the top schools that's been hitting me up. I'm thinking about taking a trip to VCU just because they're really cool with one of my AAU coaches. He told me to just go out there and talk to them. Virginia Tech wants me to go visit and Tennessee, also."

Freeman still has another season at Hutchinson before he heads off to the Division I level. But even in his lone season, he's made a number of changes to his game. After playing mostly in the post in high school, Freeman said he's learned to add more to his duties.

"I was 6'6" at the most and before, I used to be short until I hit a growth spurt," Freeman said. "Before that, I handled the ball and they put me at center and it was something new. Ever since then, I played center until I was at Hutch because there were guys 6'10" and other tall guys. I wasn't needed to play that and that improved my ball-handling. I'm still working on shooting better, but I've improved a lot in shooting and dribbling. I have a lot more confidence now and I got stronger."

Freeman said he isn't sure what's next or where he might even visit. He hopes to see a few of his options and get a better sense of where he is.

"I've got two camps coming up and I'm gonna attend those camps and go from there," Freeman said. "But I have a coach, Coach Jay (Cyriac) he helps me decide on stuff. Everything I do, I go to him first and we talk about it from there."