DeMatha guard commits to Hoyas

THE WASHINGTON TIMES

The Georgetown men’s basketball team continued its recruiting roll under John Thompson III yesterday, picking up a verbal commitment from blue-chip junior shooting guard Austin Freeman of DeMatha.

The 6-foot-4, 195-pounder is ranked by Rivals.com as the nation’s No. 37 player in the class of 2007. He chose the Hoyas over Maryland, N.C. State and Notre Dame.

“I just felt it was the best fit for me,” said Freeman, who led the Stags in scoring last season and whom DeMatha coach Mike Jones compares favorably with the elite scorers in the storied program’s recent history (Keith Bogans and Joe Forte). “It’s a great academic institution, and I just really gelled with both the guys and the coaches. You also get the sense that big things are happening over there [with the program].”

Freeman, who would be Georgetown’s only recruit for 2007 if nobody transfers, leaves early or decommits, becomes Thompson’s sixth top-100 signee in the 18-month stint since he took the reins on the Hilltop.

Perhaps most remarkably, Freeman’s commitment makes him the first DeMatha player to choose Georgetown in more than 35 years (Don Willis and Mark Edwards both graduated from Georgetown in 1973), officially ending years of awkward relations between the schools resulting from an ancient rift between Hall of Fame coaches John Thompson and Morgan Wootten.

— Barker Davis