Donnie Freeman will have surgery and miss the rest of the season with Syracuse.
The Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team will be without Donnie Freeman for the remainder of the season, per the program. The announcement was made on social media prior to the team’s game versus Boston College.
Freeman is set to have surgery next week on what has been deemed a lower right leg injury by Syracuse Athletics.
Statement from the men’s basketball program regarding freshman forward Donnie Freeman pic.twitter.com/rhFBd2Sxm5
— Syracuse Men’s Basketball (@Cuse_MBB) February 8, 2025
Two weeks ago, Syracuse head coach Adrian Autry said Freeman’s decision to either return or shut it down for the season was “more about the healing process and seeing where he’s at.”
Autry said that the decision ultimately “would be his call. His and his family.”
Freeman appeared in 14 games for the Orange this season. After initially being listed as “day-to-day” with a lower right leg injury on Jan. 8, Freeman has missed Syracuse’s last nine games. He last played at Florida State on Jan. 4.
Freeman came to Syracuse as the program’s highest rated recruit in over two decades. The 6-foot-9 forward has generated interest at the NBA level and would be a candidate to be drafted in this year’s NBA Draft should he decide not to return to college.
Freeman started 13 out 14 games as a freshman. Autry has moved Delaware transfer Jyare Davis into the starting lineup in his absence.
Freeman averaged 13.4 points and 7.9 rebounds per game while shooting 50.4% from the field in his freshman season.