Player Preview: Get to know grad-transfer Allerik Freeman

Over the next two weeks, we will be previewing the NC State Basketball team prior to their first exhibition game on Nov 4th. Today, we take a closer look at grad-transfer, Allerik (Al) Freeman.

How did he get here?

When Kevin Keatts took over it was only a few weeks later that he learned he would be without Mav Rowan (left to go pro) and Terry Henderson (waiver for 6th year got denied), two of his best returning scorers.

Most of the quality prospects were already off the board and if Keatts wanted to have any sort of success this season, he’d need a go-to scorer with a reliable jumper.

Enter Al Freeman.

Freeman had just finished his junior year at Baylor, averaging 9 points and 3 boards for the Bears and helping them get to the Sweet 16. He took time to assess his situation and decided, since he had finished up his coursework and since Baylor had a ton of talent and more coming in, that he would like a change of scenery.

Being originally from Charlotte, Freeman began looking for schools a little closer to home. When Kevin Keatts came calling he knew NC State would be his final landing spot.

“Ultimately, I felt like it was the best spot for me and the fit with the system and style of play,” Freeman told the N&O “I like to get up and down and I think my strong suit is playing in space and off the pick-and-roll,”

The move is likely going to work well for all parties. Freeman’s minutes decreased from his sophomore to his junior season, and it really wasn’t his fault. His numbers are pretty consistent across the board, however, his minutes dipped from 30 to 23. At NC State Freeman can count on 30+ minutes night in, and night out, in an offense where he will likely be featured as a scorer.

What kind of player is he?

Freeman is a 6’3, 200 lb SG who reminds us a lot of former NC State guard (who also happened to be a transfer), Trevor Lacey. Lacey is likely a bit more polished as an off-the-dribble shooter, but Freeman isn’t too far behind. They both are guys who aren’t going to wow you athletically and both aren’t true threats attacking the basket, but give them any space and they’ll kill you. Freeman is actually a little bit better of a catch and shoot scorer than Lacey was, but Lacey has a little edge on off the dribble pull-ups.

Freeman shot 43% from the field and 39% from 3pt range a junior. Compare that to Lacey’s best season of 44% and 39% and you see why we are quick to link the two.

As for projections, we’ll hold off on that, but Freeman played less than 24 minutes per game at Baylor and still had 10+ points in 16 of his 32 games. It wasn’t like Freeman didn’t deserve more playing time, he did, but Baylor was loaded with talent and ran a 10 man rotation. It was really just a situational thing as to why Freeman didn’t put up much more gaudy numbers. Something he won’t have to worry about with NC State.

How will he fit at NC State?

Freeman is going to fit well. I think the move was a no-brainer for both parties. Aside from his desired style of play fitting with what Keatts wants to do and the fact that NC State needed a shooter/scorer type, Freeman also is going to bring some intangibles.

He’s going to definitely add to the locker room. He’s a leader-type who has won at the college level before, so his words will likely carry weight with his teammates. Just see what Kevin Keatts had to say about him at the ACC Media Day.

“I’m excited to have the opportunity to coach Al Freeman.” said Keatts  “He’s a young man that I’ve known for a long time.

He’s from right here from Charlotte. He brings a lot to our program, especially — a lot of people will think his contribution on the court is going to be major, but I think just having an older guy in your locker room certainly helps a lot.

Now, on the basketball court he’s a guy who can play either guard position. The experience that he had at Baylor I thought was great, when you talk about going to NCAAs and everything else.

But he’s a guy that certainly has to have a great year for us to be successful. Could lead us in scoring.” (see full interview)

You’ve got to be pretty confident in a newcomer if you’re going to hint to the media that he could ‘lead you in scoring’ before he ever steps foot on the court.

But there likely is a good reason for Keatts’ quote. It seems as if he knows he has a guy who is a finished product and one who knows how to compete at this level. Just look at what Freeman had to say at ACC Media Day.

“For every team, there’s different goals. For us — I can’t speak for anybody else, but for our team, at the end of the year, we want to have a piece of hardware.” Said Freeman  “We want to have the trophy for everything that we competed in, the ACC tournament, the NCAA tournament, when we go to the Bahamas. We’re not going into any game, any tournament, any situation, any scrimmage, any exhibition, anything, not planning on winning not planning on being victorious. And I think if anybody is, then I think you’re doing the wrong thing right now with your life. I think anything anybody does, you should always want to be the best, you should always want to come in first. That’s one thing that we learned, sometimes the hard way, every single day in practice. It’s — winning is — it becomes who you are and everything that you do. That’s how we try to approach everything that we get faced with.” (see full interview)

Freeman might be the new guy right now, but we’re pretty confident he’ll be a household name for NC State fans in just a few weeks. The truth is, if he isn’t, then NC State is in for a long season.