WHO IS HE

Rising junior Owen Freeman is a 6-foot-10 forward from Moline, Illinois, and is a transfer from the Iowa Hawkeyes. He appeared and started in 19 games before undergoing surgery on his right hand that kept him out the rest of the season. In those 19 games, Freeman showed why he was deserving of continued praise after winning the Big Ten Freshman of the Year award in 2023-24. He built on his 10.6 points per game in 2023-24 and increased his output by over six points per game in his sophomore season, scoring 16.7 points per game with more efficiency from the field. As of April 9, Freeman is the 27th best transfer portal prospect and the fourth ranked center per 247Sports.                                                            

STATS FROM LAST SEASON

Freeman averaged 16.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game over his 19 games for the Hawkeyes this season. He notched a career-high in points at USC in January with 23 points and had four games with 20 points this season alone. He had 15 games with at least double-digit shot attempts, helping to fill a sudden but present lack of shooters on the team. Freeman grabbed double-figure rebounds in three games, had three or more blocks in eight games, and turned the ball over more than twice in just seven games.

THE GOOD…

Freeman was one of the most efficient players in the NCAA last season, specifically from two-point range. He converted on 134 of his 210 shots (63.8 percent) from the floor over his abbreviated season, shooting a more impressive 129 of 194 (66.5 percent) from inside the arc, which places him 25th of all NCAA players with at least 150 attempts this season. His three-point percentage was also at 31.3 percent, but that was just on 16 attempts all year.

He was not only effective but was relatively careful with the ball given his usages. While shooting 11.1 shots per game, he only turned the ball over 1.8 times per game. This turnover number alone does not inspire confidence, but when paired with his shot attempts, his turnover numbers should not raise concern. Sure, Freeman might turn the ball over more than Kalkbrenner did, but Freeman keeping the margin close to Kalkbrenner is helpful.

…AND THE NOT SO GOOD

Freeman’s eye-popping stats in 2024-25 help to give an idea of what Freeman can do, but the numbers do more when coupled with his freshman season stats. Freeman’s rebounding numbers, for example, got worse compared to his freshman year. Rebounding rate, which measured how likely a player is to get a certain type of rebound on a possession, helps to illustrate Freeman’s weaker rebounding season.

Freeman’s total rebounding rate dropped, and his offensive rebounding rate dropped significantly. The number that went up was defensive rebounding rates, which corresponds to a half a defensive rebound per game. Overall, despite playing around 3.5 more minutes per game, Freeman grabbed just 0.1 more rebounds per game, which implies that Freeman actually regressed rebounding the basketball.

Freeman also only played 26.4 minutes per game, which is not unusual for a big but is not close to the 34.4 minutes per game that Ryan Kalkbrenner logged this season in a Creighton uniform. One could argue that Creighton’s need for Kalkbrenner on the floor was greater than Iowa’s need for Freeman on the floor, but Head Coach Greg McDermott’s dependency on his starters does mean that Freeman will likely be asked to play more if he can.

Neither of the above notes are unfixable. Creighton’s coaching staff will be able to help Freeman get his rebounding back to elite levels while also conditioning him to play more minutes. What the coaching staff cannot teach is Kalkbrenner’s defensive instincts. Freeman did not block as much as Kalkbrenner did, nor was Freeman as able to avoid fouling as Kalkbrenner was. Freeman is not Kalkbrenner defensively, and while Creighton found a great offensive weapon, there is likely to be regression defensively.

HOW DOES HE FIT IN THE SYSTEM

Creighton’s returning scoring overall is weaker than in recent years. Rising sophomore forward Jackson McAndrew’s 7.8 points per game is the lowest of the leading returning scorer for Creighton since Creighton returned then-rising sophomore Kalkbrenner with 5.9 points per game for the 2021-22 campaign. Creighton is set to return just around 28 percent of its scoring from last season, a mark that Creighton has not seen since the likes of Mitchell Ballock, Marcus Zegarowski, Denzel Mahoney and Damien Jefferson left Creighton after the Sweet Sixteen run in 2020-21.

Freeman helps to eat up shot attempts and points that the Jays lost in the portal or to graduation. He presents Creighton with one of the most efficient and prolific post scoring options in the transfer portal, and better yet, a weapon that McDermott will be able to use alongside Creighton youthful but promising returnees. Creighton’s outlook for next season hinged drastically on the ability to find a center and a point guard to replace Kalkbrenner and Steven Ashworth, and in Owen Freeman, Creighton likely found their two-year solution in the paint.