PRINT THIS PAGE | E-MAIL THIS PAGE

Saturday, March 22, 1997

Texas' Reggie Freeman to play in home state

By Bernard Fernandez

Knight-Ridder Newspapers

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - He has spent the last four years in what might be considered the Big Apple's answer to the witness-protection program, but Reggie Freeman finally has come home - well, sort of - and he expects a big Bronx cheer from family members and friends every time he touches the ball.

Freeman, the University of Texas senior guard by way of the South Bronx, plays his first college game ever in his native state Friday night when the 10th-seeded Longhorns (18-11) face sixth seed Louisville (25-8) in the opener of an NCAA East Regional doubleheader in the Carrier Dome. Top-seeded North Carolina (26-6) and fifth-seeded California (23-8) square off in the nightcap.

Asked how many supporters from the old 'hood he could expect in a crowd of 30,000, Freeman rubbed his chin thoughtfully and said: "Fifteen or 20. But I don't know, there could be more. Maybe I'll be surprised.

"It'll be interesting to see if my mother comes, because she's afraid to drive with my brother. My brother drives 100 mph."

At least Ernest Freeman needs a car to move that fast. Reggie, the most explosive scorer in Texas's uptempo offense, sometimes seems to be clocking triple digits when he gets out on the fastbreak.

"We like to play an up-and-down kind of game," said Freeman, a lefthanded shooting guard who averages 22.3 points per game and is No. 3 on Texas's all-time scoring list. "Running the floor, that's our style."

Texas coach Tom Penders is in his ninth year, and is another East Coast guy who found success in the relative solitude of the Lone Star State. He said Longhorns fans couldn't be more enthralled with Freeman if he had arrived riding a horse and wearing a Stetson.

"Reggie is easily the most popular player that we've ever had at Texas, and we've had some great ones," Penders said. "When his name is announced in the Erwin Center (Texas's home court), the roof blows off. And we have a lot of Texas kids on our team."

Freeman was not supposed to be a star, at least not of this magnitude. He was an overlooked member of the supporting cast to the nation's most celebrated prep player, Felipe Lopez, at Bishop Rice High. Lopez signed with the hometown St. John's Red Storm, where he has withered under the intense glare of the New York media spotlight. But Freeman, after a period of adjustment, has flourished in a land many miles from the nearest subway.

Penders likes to tell the story of how he and a number of other college coaches, most of whom were there to scout Lopez, were gathered at Bishop Rice one autumn afternoon.

"So, do you really think you have a shot at Lopez?" Syracuse's Jim Boeheim asked Penders.

"I'm here to see the other kid," Penders replied.

"What other kid?" Boeheim said.

Penders, who had one remaining grant-in-aid to offer, was undecided between a Texas schoolboy sensation, "a pure shooter," he said, and the more well-rounded Freeman. He opted for Freeman, although he wasn't sure at the time he had made the right decision.

"Reggie was, like, 165 pounds and could barely keep his pants up," Penders recalled.

The 6-6 Freeman since has beefed up to 205 on barbecue and chicken-fried steak, but it took him a while to get acclimated to his new surroundings, as Penders anticipated. The coach had been there, done that.

"We have a million people in Austin," Penders said. "It is a city. I had never been in Austin until they flew me in for my interview. I had envisioned tumbleweeds and swinging doors and cowboys. All that stuff.

"It wasn't always a picnic with Reggie. It's like that with every New York kid that goes someplace else. Personally, I don't mind a kid who's a little streetwise. Reggie brought a bit of that with him from New York, but he wasn't one of those Dick Vitale 'Diaper Dandies.' He was allowed to develop at his own pace."

Freeman's game has developed so fully, he is perhaps more valuable to his team than any player who has advanced to the Sweet 16. He is the only player in the Big 12 Conference to rank in the top 10 in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals. And he has been even better in the NCAA Tournament; in wins over Wisconsin and Coppin State, "Fran" (for Franchise), as he is known to his teammates, has averaged 26.5 points, six rebounds and five assists.

"He's just a fabulous player," Penders said. "He does everything. I don't want to demean our other players, but I don't think we would have won more than 10 games without Reggie. If that's not an impact player, then I haven't seen one.

"Every team in our league - except Kansas, which just pounds you and doesn't care who the heck you have lined up - plays box-and-one, triangle-and-two against Reggie. He's seen every gimmick defense known to man and he still beats them.

"We're not here without Reggie. It's 82 degrees right now in Austin, and if it wasn't for Reggie, I'm out playing golf."

In one of those twists of fate that makes college hoops so intriguing, Freeman finds himself in the go-to role Lopez played in high school. The other Longhorns understand they are there to provide support.

"There are certain points in the game where we need to clear out and let Reggie go at it," guard Brandy Perryman said.

Texas and Louisville - which has a certifiable star of its own in guard DeJuan Wheat - have met once before this season. Back on Jan. 19, in Austin, the Cardinals clawed back from a 56-41 second-half deficit to beat the 'Horns, 85-78, in overtime.

Penders claimed, and television replays confirmed, Eric Johnson's game-tying three-pointer for Louisville at the end of regulation came a split-second after the horn and should have been disallowed. The disappointment of that defeat has had Texas's players thinking rematch ever since the brackets were announced March 9.

"In a way, it really doesn't matter who we beat as long as we keep advancing," Freeman said. "But now that it's worked out this way, yeah, it is kind of interesting that it's us and Louisville again. It should be a very interesting game."

Now that North Carolina's Dean Smith has his 877th career victory and has moved past the late Adolph Rupp as the winningest coach in college basketball history, more attention presumably will be focused on his players in what shapes up as a battle of big men.

California has four players 6-9 or taller who will be bodying up on the largest Tar Heel of all, 7-3, 273-pound Serge Zwikker. If North Carolina, which averages 41.6 rebounds to 31.4 for its opponents, can control the paint against the burly Bears, Smith's team likely will claim a place in the Elite Eight.

X X X

(c) 1997, Philadelphia Daily News.

Visit Philadelphia Online, the World Wide Web site of the Philadelphia Daily News, at http://www.phillynews.com/

Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune Information Services. Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
Send the URL (Address) of This Story to A Friend: