The last time Lennard Freeman played in a college basketball game, the NC State basketball team lost a thrilling 92-89 ACC Tournament matchup against Duke on March 9, 2016, in Washington, D.C.
Only four players remain who played in that game — Freeman, senior power forward Abdul-Malik Abu and junior small forward Shaun Kirk of NC State — and Duke senior shooting guard Grayson Allen is the last one standing from the Blue Devils.
Freeman played four scoreless minutes, already in the throes of shin pain, which he originally had surgery on June 12, 2015, prior to that season. He had his second surgery following that season in mid-May, removing a 16-inch steel rod and replacing it with a thicker one.
Freeman returns to the court Friday in the season opener against Virginia Military Institute. The sleeker Freeman not only has seven teammates he has never played in a game with, but also a new head coach in Kevin Keatts, who replaced Mark Gottfried last March.
“It’s crazy and not real right now,” Freeman said. “Even the exhibition game it wasn’t real. Now that it is the real deal, I’m excited.
“I have a great level of appreciation. Before I got hurt, I already appreciated the game, but when it is taken away from you, it pushes you into a different mindset.”
One of Freeman’s new teammates is excited about playing Friday for different reasons. North Carolina A&T graduate transfer Sam Hunt played in front of an average 1,359 fans for the 3-29 Aggies. Getting the opportunity to play in front thousands of cheering Wolfpack fans at PNC Arena will be a new feeling.
“It hasn’t hit me yet,” said Hunt, who will have 4-to-6 friends and family members in attendance. “Going out there in the exhibition, it was kind of like, ‘Wow, I’m here.’ Coming from A&T to here, it’s truly a blessing.”
Hunt is used to be being in the role of VMI. He previously played for both Jacksonville and North Carolina A&T, and called games against teams such as NC State as “money games.” The big games last year for the Aggies were road contests at Western Kentucky, UMass, Notre Dame and Georgia Tech.
“It’s a big difference [playing for NCSU],” Hunt said. “As far as basketball goes, the intensity is a little bit higher. Basketball is basketball, you play the same.”
NC State might have a lot of new faces, but with four seniors, the goals are still short-term oriented. Lennard Freeman, shooting guards Hunt and Allerik Freeman and eventually a healthy Abu know this is their last shot at achieving something on the college level. The quartet simply has no time to be patient in a rebuilding scenario.
“I told him [Keatts] at the beginning of the year that this was my last year,” Lennard Freeman said. “Lets look at this as everybody’s last year. I don’t have time for a rebuilding year.
“A lot of people don’t think we’ll be as good, but that isn’t our mindset.”
NC State will have just nine healthy scholarship players against VMI, causing Keatts to incorporate around 75 percent of what he wants to accomplish. Part of being short-handed is by design due to accepting Utah sophomore transfer Devon Daniels and North Carolina Wilmington junior transfer C.J. Bryce. However, Keatts ruled out Abu for Friday’s game and also Sunday’s contest against Charleston Southern, due to a sprained knee ligament.
“Malik went to the doctor I want to say on Tuesday or Wednesday, and he is certainly cleared to run right now,” Keatts said. “There is no time table for his return. I won’t even chance playing him unless he’s 100 percent. If he’s 98 percent, I won’t put him on the floor.”
Freshman guard Braxton Beverly is also awaiting a last-ditch effort with the NCAA to get cleared to play. The Ohio State transfer had hoped to get the rare waiver, but has been denied twice thus far.
Keatts brought up that because he played five years of high school — he spent a post-graduate year at Chatham (Va.) Hargrave Military Academy — that should also play into the NCAA’s thoughts on Beverly.
“I still think there is a great opportunity for him to have a chance to play this year,” Keatts said. “To me, Braxton has already made a sacrifice to go to Hargrave as a post-grad. For most guys, that would have been his freshman year. So, basically we are making a kid sit out two years because he did a post-grad year. I hope they look at the entire situation and give him a break.”
NC State ensured its non-conference slate wasn’t overly difficult, and VMI fits the bill. The Keydets went 6-24 last year and lost their top three scorers. KenPom.com ranks VMI No. 340 in the country out of 351 squads.
“[VMI coach] Danny Earl has been around for a long time and he does a great job,” Keatts said. “I expect to see some pressing, a lot of 2-2-1 and then back to a matchup zone. They’ll play some man-to-man. They do a great job of sharing the basketball.”
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