Not quite your Jerami Grant offseason growth development, but Donnie Freeman is taller than he was a season ago.
Photo by Johnnie Izquierdo/Getty Images
Rising sophomore Donnie Freeman has grown an inch, according to Syracuse Orange men’s basketball head coach Adrian Autry. Freeman, now 6-foot-10, is “100 percent” healthy following a season-ending injury. He has returned to basketball activities, a Syracuse spokesman confirmed.
“He’s in the gym,” Autry said. “We’re easing him along. But everything is fine, he made a clean recovery and we’re really excited.”
Freeman last played in game action on Jan. 4 against Florida State before missing the remainder of the 2025 season with a right foot injury. He had surgery in mid-February and sat the rest of the season from the Syracuse bench in a walking boot. He played in 14 games as a freshman, making 13 starts. He averaged 13.4 points and 7.9 rebounds per game with shooting splits of 50.4/33.3/79.6.
Freeman came to Syracuse last season as the program’s highest ranked recruit in over two decades. The program announced his return for the 2025-26 season along with JJ Starling in late March. Syracuse is the only ACC team to return its top two scorers from the previous season. Freeman is a projected draft pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
“We haven’t seen his best basketball,” Autry said. “I know going into next year he will start off so much further ahead. Not only from just playing but being able to learn. We’ve got this whole summer. I’m so excited for him.”
