Mark Freeman: Recruiting Update (2018)
In the coming days Mark Freeman (Southwind) will set his first official visits.
The confident floor general really showed out in July and added new D1 offers. In the last five months alone Freeman earned offers from Middle Tennessee, Bradley, SIUE, LIU-Brooklyn, Southeast Missouri, and East Tennessee State.
“A big name college doesn’t mean nothing to me,” said Freeman’s father Marcus Freeman. “I just want him to go to school to get his degree and whatever happens from there it happens from there.”
Neither father nor Mark intimated which schools will get officials from them, but ETSU, Bradley, and SIUE have been on the tip of their tongues since June. This could mean nothing, but our sense is that two or three of these programs will host the Freeman family in the coming weeks and months.
According to Mr. Freeman, the pool Mark Freeman is currently selecting from is: Southeast Missouri State, LIU-Brooklyn, SIUE Cougars, ETSU, Bradley, Sam Houston State.
The coaching staff at SIUE has some wonderful former college guards in Charles “Bubba” Wells (Austin Peay) and Tarance Crump (Purdue).
East Tennessee State is coming off their 10th NCAA appearance in program history. Head Coach Steve Forbes is reinvigorating the program and continuing the success he contributed to with Wichita State as an assistant coach.
Bradley intrigued Mark Freeman all through July because they have a proud history of accomplished guards (Jim Les, Daniel Ruffin, Hersey Hawkins, Danny Granger, Will Franklin, Anthony Parker, etc.).
Southeast Missouri loves to recruit Memphis and last season the Redhawks produced a 9-win OVC campaign. Head Coach Rick Ray appears to be changing the program’s culture.
LIU-Brooklyn has been loyal to Freeman and stayed in the thick of it. At the end of the day distance is a concern. To be fair neither Freeman mentioned the distance, but rarely do players select colleges 17+ hours away from family by car. Flights are more reasonable at two plus hours.
Though UT Martin offered in 2016 they are not taking a point guard in the current class.
Just today Middle Tennessee landed a verbal commitment from wing K.J. Buffen and they hosted Trey Doomes. While Doomes is still in play with Middle Tennessee the program appears to be gunning for another wing and maybe a big. Would they target a point guard with two young point guards already in the program (Donovan Sims, Tyrik Dixon)? Time will tell.
All of this will be somewhat sorted out in the coming days as the Freeman family sits down Monday and begins to narrow the field. Look for officials to be set within days from this upcomign Monday.
For the latest coverage on Mark Freeman’s movements and especially his senior season success smash the @PrepHoopsTn link.