Welcome to the first installment of God, Save The Salukis. This is a set of features in which yours truly (fresh off covering a full season of SIU men's basketball) tries to find a clear path for the Salukis' return to NCAA Tournament play. Today's feature: Tony Freeman. The Iowa transfer will spend his senior season donning Saluki Maroon and could be a difference-maker.I've said it once and I'll say it again: when next March rolls around, Saluki Nation will be talking about Tony Freeman in the same way Illinois State fans talked about Chamberlain "Champ" Oguchi.
Freeman is a power-conference transfer stud. Everything about him screams "man among boy." He's built like a Big Ten player and practiced like one. I'll never forget the early season practice that yielded my favorite story.
As players and coaches filed onto the SIU Arena floor, Freeman jokingly asked why none of the assmebled media members wanted to talk to him. Saluki head coach Chris Lowery responded in kind: "No one wants to talk to scrubs, Free." Chuckles ensued, and so did a show. Freeman dominated everyone that practice. On offense he scored at will and on the defense, he was a stopper.
That's when I knew he was for real.
WHY SIU WILL BE BETTER: Freeman, who averaged 13.8 points in his junior year at Iowa, should slide into the starting line-up once the ball gets bouncing next year, providing a dynamic backcourt with Freshman of the Year Kevin Dillard. However, Freeman's insertion into the starting five will bump either Justin Bocot or Ryan Hare to the bench. Unless, of course, Lowery goes all Villanova on us and drops the four-guard offense on the Valley.
It's a line-up that worked for Illinois State ... and while Freeman might be SIU's version of Oguchi, being a 6-6 combo guard-forward with inside and outside skills is totally different from being a 6-1 guard.
With Free in the fold, the Saluki backcourt gets an extra scoring punch as I expect the 13.8 PPG to hold or even increase if he can boost his 38 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 69 percent from the charity stripe.
No matter what he brings to the court in numbers, it will be matched by the maturity that was sorely missed when Bryan Mullins went down with that stress fracture injury.
Oh yeah, a scary sideote, Freeman has a stress fracture injury history. Just saying.
I believe if Tony Freeman can average 13 to 15 points per game, easing the scoring load off Kevin Dillard's shoulders, it could mean SIU improves its win total from 13 to 16 ... and I haven't even gotten to any of the other factors, yet.
Related: Saluki guard Freeman taking advantage of year off [Daily Egyptian]
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