Donnie Freeman makes his transfer portal choice. He’s not coming to Kentucky
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- Syracuse forward Donnie Freeman has committed to St. John’s from the transfer portal.
- Freeman averaged 16.5 points and 7.2 rebounds this past season for the Orange.
- Freeman had been a top transfer portal target for Kentucky basketball.
A top transfer portal target for Kentucky basketball has made his college choice.
He won’t be coming to Lexington.
On Monday night, Syracuse sophomore forward Donnie Freeman committed to St. John’s out of the NCAA transfer portal. Sydney Cuillier of 247Sports was the first to report Freeman’s commitment to the Red Storm.
Freeman was previously a two-year standout in the ACC for the Orange. A 6-foot-9 frontcourt player, Freeman averaged 16.5 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 31.3 minutes per game this past season at Syracuse.
247Sports ranks Freeman as the No. 15 player in the transfer portal.
Freeman — who missed nine games this past season with a foot injury — took a recruiting visit to the Wildcats this past week.
UK also had a connection to Freeman that could have given the Cats an advantage in his portal recruitment.
Freeman, who turns 21 years old in August, was coached by UK assistant Mikhail McLean on the Bahamas national team when it attempted to qualify for the 2024 Olympics. Freeman was born in the Bahamas before being raised in Washington, D.C.
Until recently, Kentucky had been considered the leader in Freeman’s portal recruitment. Following his recruiting visit to Kentucky, the Wildcats had momentum toward securing a commitment from Freeman, who also received interest from Alabama and UConn.
But the likes of St. John’s and Tennessee made late pushes for Freeman. On Monday morning, On3 reported St. John’s was the team to beat in Freeman’s recruitment.
That held true with Freeman’s pledge to the Red Storm.
Freeman was an important portal recruit for Kentucky because of the roster changes that are taking place in UK’s frontcourt this offseason.
Kentucky forwards Mouhamed Dioubate, Brandon Garrison and Andrija Jelavic all entered the transfer portal from this past season’s team. Jayden Quaintance is also leaving Kentucky for the NBA draft.
Garrison has committed to Alabama and Jelavic has committed to Ohio State out of the portal. Dioubate has committed to LSU.
UK also pursued Colorado sophomore forward Sebastian Rancik out of the transfer portal, but Rancik committed to Florida State on Sunday.
By committing to St. John’s, Freeman will join a Red Storm program that has won the Big East Conference regular season and tournament championships in each of the past two seasons. Freeman is the first player to commit to St. John’s from the transfer portal this offseason.
The Red Storm have lost five players to the portal, including reserve guards Dylan Darling and Joson Sanon.
With Freeman off the board, Kentucky must reset its efforts toward finding a starting frontcourt player for next season.
Kentucky’s projected roster for the 2026-27 season features only eight players.
UK has portal commitments from Washington sophomore guard Zoom Diallo and Furman freshman guard Alex Wilkins.
Kentucky’s lone commitment from the 2026 high school class, so far, is four-star point guard Mason Williams, who is a son of new UK assistant coach Mo Williams.
The Wildcats are also expected to return freshman forward Braydon Hawthorne, freshman center Malachi Moreno, sophomore wing Kam Williams, sophomore forward Trent Noah and junior forward Reece Potter from this past season’s squad.
Hawthorne and Potter both redshirted the 2025-26 season, and Hawthorne is expected to remain with the Cats for the 2026-27 season.
Moreno has entered his name into the 2026 NBA draft, but he’s announced that if he’s playing college basketball next season it will be for Kentucky.
Williams, Noah and Potter have announced their returns to UK.
This story was originally published April 20, 2026 at 9:35 PM.
