A Young Hoya Drives With a Steady Hand

It was the very beginning of January, and the Georgetown ban on reporters interviewing freshman players had just been lifted when a small group of media types gathered around Austin Freeman, eager to talk to the Hoyas' lone rookie starter. Freeman, a two-time All-Met from DeMatha, answered every question in a low voice and with few words.

Senior Jonathan Wallace, one of the more reserved Hoyas, stood no more than 10 feet away, and couldn't hear what was going on. When Freeman left and Wallace took his place in front of the reporters, he jokingly asked, "Were you checking his heartbeat?"

Freeman is quiet, but that fits the way he plays for the 11th-ranked Hoyas (22-4, 12-3), who host St. John's (10-16, 4-10) tonight at Verizon Center. In a strong class of Big East freshmen, the stoic Freeman is notable more for his consistency. He's averaging 9.2 points and 3.3 rebounds, and is shooting 50 percent. He's led the Hoyas in scoring in five games, including at Memphis and at Louisville.

Freeman seems older than he is, in part because of his appearance; said senior center Roy Hibbert, "He looks like he's 21." Freeman -- referred to as "Austin He-Man" on one sign in the student section -- is listed at 6 feet 4 and 220 pounds. After he scored 13 points at DePaul in early January, Coach Jerry Wainwright noted: "Austin Freeman, he must've had a good training table when he grew up. He's a big lad."

But it's also because of the assured way he plays. His teammates marvel at how calm he is, and his coach says that he rarely makes the same mistake twice.

"He has a high understanding of this game," Georgetown Coach John Thompson III said. "Basketball situations come easy to him. He normally makes the right decisions, regardless of the situation. His instincts are very, very good."

DeMatha Coach Mike Jones noticed that the first time he saw Freeman play, when he was in the seventh grade. Jones was struck by his maturity, and how he never played out of control -- so much so, that Jones assumed Freeman was already in high school. When Freeman joined the Stags two years later, those qualities helped him earn the respect and trust of his older teammates, according to Jones. It also helped that Freeman had three game-winning shots as a freshman.

Freeman went on to become one of the best players in the history of DeMatha's storied program; he helped lead the Stags to three straight WCAC and City titles, and was named a McDonald's all-American. One of Jones's favorite stories is from Freeman's sophomore year, when he capped a stirring comeback against Gonzaga with a game-winning three-pointer with 31 seconds left.

"Austin gets it at the top of the key, and starts to dribble, dribble and dribble," Jones said. "The clock gets to 50 seconds, 40 seconds, and I'm looking at him like: 'What are you waiting for? You're losing.' He looks at me like, 'Oh, you want me to score now?'

"So he hits the three and goes berserk, starts screaming. It was like he looked at me to say: 'You want me to win the game now? I was going to wait and make it more dramatic.' That's how much in control he was."

Freeman has yet to have a signature moment like that for Georgetown; he missed a potential game-winning three-pointer in the final seconds of regulation against Syracuse, a game the Hoyas eventually won in overtime. Lately he has been struggling with his shooting; in his past 10 games, he has converted just 5 of 30 three-point attempts (16.7 percent). He's shooting just 26.5 percent from three-point range in Big East play, down from 44.8 percent in nonconference games.

"It happens to every shooter," Freeman said. "Shooters shoot, and hopefully I'll get out of it. [In the meantime] you have to do other things to help the team win. Try to be a helper basically. Get my teammates open shots, get rebounds."

Hibbert insists that "in no way is [Freeman] an introvert," and Jones claims that Freeman "actually can be very talkative." Sit him down with fellow freshman Chris Wright, his good friend and roommate, for instance, and Freeman opens up.

He lights up as he talks about how he was stunned to see the 6-1 Wright dunk as a high school junior, even though Wright spent the summer telling him that he could: "His arm was over the rim and everything. I was shocked. I stopped and paused for a moment, like did he really just dunk? I'd say that's one of the best things I've seen in my high school career." He praises Wright's fashion sense -- the injured guard has worn argyle sweater vests and stylish black eyeglasses on the bench in recent weeks -- but quickly adds that he, too, is a sharp dresser.

"What I like most [about Freeman] is he has quiet confidence," said Wright, a three-time All-Met from St. John's who is sidelined with a foot injury. "People tend to think, especially with freshmen, that we're not going to be as into it, or because it's the Big East, things are going to be different from high school. I like the fact that he knows what he can do, and he's very confident. He doesn't boast about it, he doesn't brag about it, but you can tell from the way he plays. His game is so smooth, and he looks so effortless, that you just admire that. He just plays the game."

Hoyas Note: Wallace sprained his right (shooting) wrist against Providence and aggravated it on a hard fall in the final minutes Saturday against Cincinnati. Thompson said that Wallace will have the wrist taped, and is expected to play tonight.