I’m glad you can project his talent level three years out.
If he transfers I guess we can get super excited about the next recruit that comes in and doesn’t perform fast enough so we can shoo him out the door too.
Mee-yow! Nobody is "shooing" him out the door. I would love to see Freeman succeed. But the situation as laid out that I originally replied to isn't as easy as some are making it out to be. In 2020-21, they have 13 scholarships. In 2021-22, they can have up to 15, as they have currently have 2 scholarship seniors (Curry and Johnson) that could return under the Covid exemption for an additional year. That is assuming Coyle allows them to carry more than the required 13, which is probably a safe assumption being Fleck has already said he's been given clearance to go over his 85 scholarship limit. However, in 22-23 and beyond, everything that has been reported indicates that the scholarship limit will go back down to 13. So if everybody on the roster that isn't currently a senior stays an extra year, they would have zero open scholarships to incoming freshman in 2022. Thus, it isn't as easy as saying that if a player wants to stay and play on scholarship they'll be given that extra year. The U will have fulfilled it's obligation when he completes his 4th year in 22-23, and just like everywhere else, it is highly likely only some players will be "encouraged" to stay an extra year on scholarship. The U will not be required to give him a fifth year on scholarship. Look at the non-revenue sport seniors and what happened in the spring- they were told they could stay for their additional year if they paid their own way, but not on scholarship. Additionally, by all accounts it sounds like the "one time transfer rule" by the NCAA is a given, it's just when it finally gets passed. That makes transferring much easier, independent of his specific situation. Then, add in the next layer of what are the chances that Pitino is here in 23-24 when Freeman's fifth year is? If there is a different coach here, it is likely he'll want to get "his" recruits in, which happens pretty much every time there is a coaching change anywhere.
If Freeman turns into the range of player where he is a solid starter, but not good enough to go pro somewhere, sure, he could be here in 23-24. But considering all the variables, most importantly considering his scholarship is not guaranteed that year, it is likely he is not here for a fifth year. Besides, look at the history of the Pitino tenure. Look at all the players that have either transferred in or transferred out- what is the percentage of players that come here as freshman and stay for 4/5 years? It has to be way less than 50%.
