Young Westlake High School swingman Matt Freeman has verbally committed to the University of Oklahoma basketball programme.
The 17 year old has recently returned from the US after attending the Adidas Nations Tournament at Long Beach, California. The tournament attracts some of the best high school talent from around the globe and Freeman playing for the Asia Pacific team produced some impressive stats.
The 6’9” forward averaged 17.8ppg and 3.3rpg. His shooting numbers were strong converting 60% from the field including an eye catching 48.2% from behind the three point arc. Interestingly Steve Adams, the Oklahoma City Thunder centre, was one of the NBA players attending the camp and the pair also shared a flight back to New Zealand on Thursday.
“ Meeting Steve and now having a friendly Kiwi face to say hi too occasionally in Oklahoma will be reassuring for Matt” said father John.
Freeman senior added that “There were a number of offers on the table but after doing our homework and visiting the fabulous facilities the University of Oklahoma have, Matt was very comfortable to accept their offer. We also like the type of systems Oklahoma use and believe they will suit Matt’s style of play.”
The Sooners, as the Oklahoma University team are known, are coached by Lon Kruger and play in front of sell out crowds of 16,000.
Playing in the Big 12 Conference the Sooners were eliminated by Michigan State in the round of 16 at the 2015 NCAA Finals but are being picked as a top 12 college next season by many pundits in the States.
Freeman’s personal coach and mentor Dave Mackay is thrilled for Freeman.
“I am pleased to see Matt’s childhood ambition become a reality. He has dreamed of going to college in America since he was 10 years old”.
Matt himself is equally delighted.
“The coaching staff are great and I just see myself fitting in there better than anywhere else. It’s a great place and the campus is beautiful. My end goal is to make the NBA and I get a good feeling that the coaches and everything about the environment will help me achieve that”
“Chatting to Steve (Adams) also helped as he talked to me about how good Oklahoma was and it is an easy place to settle into.”
It is unclear at this stage exactly when Freeman will take up the offer but it is likely he will head to Oklahoma in January and red shirt the second semester of the upcoming academic year.
It has been a hectic couple of months for Freeman as it was only in June that he, along with Tai Wynyard, Nikau McCullough and Sam Timmins, won gold medals the FIBA Under 18 3on3 World Championships in Hungary.
Things could not be much better in the Freeman household right now.
LACEY LOWDOWN 