clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Baylor gets a late gem in Top 100 SG Allerik Freeman

Once an early signee under since-deposed UCLA head coach Ben Howland, Charlotte, NC shooting guard Allerik Freeman gave his verbal pledge to Scott Drew and the Baylor Bears this afternoon. He is eligible immediately as part of the 2013 class.

By Mark C. Moore
Mike Stobe

I don't have much information about Freeman as of yet other than his measurables -- 6-4, 210-- and his rankings: he's a consensus 4*, top-100 recruit by all major services.

Profile Links:

ESPN: 85 grade, 4*, #72 on ESPN Top 100, #17 SG
247Sports: 93 grade, 4*, #25 SG
Rivals: 4*, #81 recruit in the country, #22 SG
Scout: 4*, #15 SG

Freeman asked to be released from his previous Letter of Intent to UCLA in late April, following which he became one of only two uncommitted consensus top-100 recruits in the country. The other is the #1 recruit, Andrew Wiggins. Freeman previously held offers from, in addition to UCLA, Kansas, Duke, Villanova, Florida, Georgetown, Ohio State, and a host of others. Following his decommitment from UCLA, Minnesota and Baylor were rumored to be his top choices. Baylor obviously won out.

With Freeman now in the fold, Baylor's recruiting class of Ish Wainright, Dominic Woodson, and Johnathan Motley (in addition to Freeman) now contains 4 recruits in one top-100 list or another, three of which, Freeman, Wainright, and Woodson, are in basically all of them. His commitment also puts Baylor in an interesting situation, though, because if all else holds, we're now one scholarship over the limit. All else obviously can't hold, then. Whether it's a transfer out of a current player or a recruit not making it in, we need to clear up one spot. And this commitment would seem to put the Royce O'Neale transfer rumors on the back burner, as well.

All in all, I don't think it's much to worry about. These things have a way of working themselves out, and Baylor just snagged one of the top uncommitted players on the board to bolster our roster. Freeman is a quality shooting guard that can both shoot and defend bigger opposing guards, something we haven't had on campus lately. He should team up with Wainright at the 3 to give Big 12 opponents fits for the next few years.

Check out CBSSports' take on the commitment. I'll add others as we go through the afternoon.


More From Our Daily Bears