On an emotional night, Indiana Pacers’ forward Enrique Freeman returned to his alma mater. He had his jersey immortalized in the rafters of the Akron Zips’ James A. Rhodes Arena on Tuesday night.
The Pacers drafted Freeman 50th overall out of Akron in the 2024 NBA draft. He has played 19 games in the NBA and started one, with an average 7.3 minutes per game. He is on a two-way contract and in the G League, he averages 12 points per game and 7.0 rebounds for the Indiana Mad Ants.
Freeman’s journey began with an academic scholarship to Akron. Freeman wasn’t recruited to play basketball. He worked as an intramural referee for the campus’ recreational basketball league in his freshman year. He went to an open tryout for the basketball team and performed well, causing the team to recruit him.
“On September 16, 2019, when I walked with my Starbucks cup of coffee… to watch tryouts at 9 a.m. for our general student body walk-on tryout and to think we’d be standing here on Rique February 18, 2025, I think we would have taken that, would we?” John Groce said during the jersey ceremony last night.
Freeman flourished under Groce’s system from 2019-24, making steady strides each season. His breakout came in 2021-22 when he led the NCAA in field goal percentage, shooting an impressive 66.5% (175 of 263) from the floor. That season, he earned MAC Defensive Player of the Year and MAC Tournament MVP honors, helping Akron push UCLA to the brink in the NCAA Tournament before falling just short. He carried that momentum into 2022-23, surpassing 1,000 career points as a Zip and earning a spot on the All-MAC First Team.
His final year in the program was his best. He cemented himself as a part of Akron history and NCAA history as he tied the record for most double-doubles in a season, joining Armando Barcot and David Robinson. He was named a finalist for the Karl Malone Award, the Oscar Robertson Award, and the Lou Henson Award. Freeman was also named the unanimous MAC Player of the Year. The accolades for his historic season continued.
Despite all his success, Freeman remained an underdog. At the end of the season, he was barely on anyone’s draft radar. Undeterred, he continued to grind, earning invitations to the 2024 Portsmouth Invitational Tournament and the Reese’s All-Star Game. He seized those opportunities, impressing scouts enough to receive an invite to the G League Combine. There, he performed so well that he secured a spot at the NBA Combine. Freeman had already delivered one of the greatest seasons in MAC history, but his path to the draft demanded even more effort long after the season ended.
Freeman is an amazing player, but Groce and anyone who has played or worked with him will say he is an even better person than a player.
“What makes Enrique unique… is his hunger and his humility,” Groce said. “He cares deeply about two things, other people… and winning.”
On Tuesday night, the Zips honored his jersey and hung it from the rafters. The athletic department and Wentz Financial Group gave away 2000 jerseys to celebrate the night. Zips fans and students lined up in the hundreds before the game in 15-degree weather, waiting to get their hands on one.
Akron hosted the Northern Illinois Huskies, who hoped to get their season back on track after starting conference play at 1-11. The Huskies kept the game closer than the records indicated, but the Zips pulled away to win 73-63 and extended their winning streak to 14 in a row.
