During his recruitment, which looked like it was heavily leaning towards Kentucky at one point, Dillon Mitchell sent Freeman a text message vouching for the Red Storm and Pitino and it didn\u2019t take much more convincing. <\/p>\n
Shortly after, the 6-foot-9 forward committed to St. John\u2019s. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019ll be great for him,\u201d Mitchell told Storm The Paint at the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago on Wednesday. <\/p>\n
After Donnie Freeman made his decision public, Mitchell sent a message to Rick Pitino showing his excitement about the addition to the roster. Mitchell said Pitino replied by asking him if he looked the move. <\/p>\n
\u201cI love him as long as he listens to Rick Pitino,\u201d was his response. <\/p>\n
Despite battling injuries, Freeman had two productive seasons at Syracuse after posting 16.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists per game this year on 47.4-percent shooting. <\/p>\n
\u201cDonnie\u2019s versatile,\u201d Mitchell explained. \u201cHe\u2019s lengthy, he\u2019s athletic, he can shoot it as well.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s got a big-time offensive game and the way Coach P\u2019s offensive system is, it\u2019s kind of free and it\u2019s kind of like an NBA system, defensively and offensively a little bit, just the pace he likes to play at, so Donnie would be really good there.\u201d <\/p>\n
The hope is that St. John\u2019s can play Donnie Freeman at small forward and power forward as the team looked to build a frontcourt that rivals the size of Michigan, the National Champions from this season. <\/p>\n
St. John\u2019s is still hunting for an impact center this offseason after complimenting the addition of Freeman with international guard Quinn Ellis and wings Babacar Sane and Djordije Jovanovic. <\/p>\n
\u201cJohnnie fans will be happy with him for sure,\u201d Mitchell added.<\/p>\n
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