Austin Freeman appreciation

[iheartdurenbros]

Good luck to Austin wherever he lands. It was such a pleasure to watch him play.

http://instagram.com/p/B3kgr6qBfYP

[tashoya]

I wish Austin every success in his next chapter. Not for nothing, Jonathan just left. I don't know if it's remotely feasible but it sure would be great to see Austin come home.

[EtomicB]

The 33 he dropped on Uconn in the comeback win in 2010 cemented his place in my heart!

He was so good offensively, Best of luck to him!

[dense]

Paging Mr. Ewing, give this man a job

[DFW HOYA]

Oct 13, 2019 18:15:04 GMT -5 dense said:

Paging Mr. Ewing, give this man a job

With all due respects to a good man and a great player, no.

The basketball office is not about hiring former players. Social media has posited any number of players that should be hired not for experience, but largely because of who they were. Names from John Duren to Jabril Trawick periodically come up over the years, but none have the experience at the college level. There was even a thread on Facebook about why Allen Iverson should be hired as an assistant--for one thing, a college degree is required. Experience is why Patrick Ewing put in 17 years as an assistant--he had zero chance to be hired in the NBA (or even at Georgetown) without it.

It's likely that upon his retirement or departure, Patrick Ewing is the last of the Thompson era coaches at Georgetown. For whatever reason, Thompson did not build a legacy of coaching among his former players and neither did JT III. But if Austin Freeman seriously wants to get into coaching, there will be opportunities, but they start in high school and smaller colleges, not the Big East.

[Bigs"R"Us]

Better connected to the DC area scene than Wallace.

[tashoya]

Oct 13, 2019 18:33:13 GMT -5 DFW HOYA said:

Oct 13, 2019 18:15:04 GMT -5 dense said:

Paging Mr. Ewing, give this man a job

With all due respects to a good man and a great player, no.

The basketball office is not about hiring former players. Social media has posited any number of players that should be hired not for experience, but largely because of who they were. Names from John Duren to Jabril Trawick periodically come up over the years, but none have the experience at the college level. There was even a thread on Facebook about why Allen Iverson should be hired as an assistant--for one thing, a college degree is required. Experience is why Patrick Ewing put in 17 years as an assistant--he had zero chance to be hired in the NBA (or even at Georgetown) without it.

It's likely that upon his retirement or departure, Patrick Ewing is the last of the Thompson era coaches at Georgetown. For whatever reason, Thompson did not build a legacy of coaching among his former players and neither did JT III. But if Austin Freeman seriously wants to get into coaching, there will be opportunities, but they start in high school and smaller colleges, not the Big East.

Due respect to your insight, Austin Freeman isn't some schmo. He has international playing experience which, I would argue, is exceedingly valuable at the college level in prepping guys for what to expect if that's the route they choose. And, while he doesn't have coaching experience, he does have Georgetown and BE experience. And he's a local guy. Like it or not, he checks a lot of boxes. I don't see any good reason why he couldn't be hired as a special assistant in the way that Wallace was.

[MCIGuy]

Oct 13, 2019 18:33:13 GMT -5 DFW HOYA said:

Oct 13, 2019 18:15:04 GMT -5 dense said:

Paging Mr. Ewing, give this man a job

With all due respects to a good man and a great player, no.

The basketball office is not about hiring former players. Social media has posited any number of players that should be hired not for experience, but largely because of who they were. Names from John Duren to Jabril Trawick periodically come up over the years, but none have the experience at the college level. There was even a thread on Facebook about why Allen Iverson should be hired as an assistant--for one thing, a college degree is required. Experience is why Patrick Ewing put in 17 years as an assistant--he had zero chance to be hired in the NBA (or even at Georgetown) without it.

It's likely that upon his retirement or departure, Patrick Ewing is the last of the Thompson era coaches at Georgetown. For whatever reason, Thompson did not build a legacy of coaching among his former players and neither did JT III. But if Austin Freeman seriously wants to get into coaching, there will be opportunities, but they start in high school and smaller colleges, not the Big East.

For decades now Duke has mostly filled its roster of assistant coaches by hiring former players of K who did not learn the craft of coaching at high school or small colleges before they took their seat on the Blue Devils bench.

[Lethal_Interjection]

Oct 13, 2019 19:11:25 GMT -5 tashoya said:

Oct 13, 2019 18:33:13 GMT -5 DFW HOYA said:

With all due respects to a good man and a great player, no.

The basketball office is not about hiring former players. Social media has posited any number of players that should be hired not for experience, but largely because of who they were. Names from John Duren to Jabril Trawick periodically come up over the years, but none have the experience at the college level. There was even a thread on Facebook about why Allen Iverson should be hired as an assistant--for one thing, a college degree is required. Experience is why Patrick Ewing put in 17 years as an assistant--he had zero chance to be hired in the NBA (or even at Georgetown) without it.

It's likely that upon his retirement or departure, Patrick Ewing is the last of the Thompson era coaches at Georgetown. For whatever reason, Thompson did not build a legacy of coaching among his former players and neither did JT III. But if Austin Freeman seriously wants to get into coaching, there will be opportunities, but they start in high school and smaller colleges, not the Big East.

Due respect to your insight, Austin Freeman isn't some schmo. He has international playing experience which, I would argue, is exceedingly valuable at the college level in prepping guys for what to expect if that's the route they choose. And, while he doesn't have coaching experience, he does have Georgetown and BE experience. And he's a local guy. Like it or not, he checks a lot of boxes. I don't see any good reason why he couldn't be hired as a special assistant in the way that Wallace was.

If Freeman isn't able to land on the Hoyas staff.  He could probably make his way on a AAU squad (somewhere), and that could even help the Hoyas pipeline even more if need be.

Sometimes, you have to start off small, and work you way up the ranks.

[DFW HOYA]

Oct 13, 2019 19:18:57 GMT -5 MCIGuy said:

For decades now Duke has mostly filled its roster of assistant coaches by hiring former players of K who did not learn the craft of coaching at high school or small colleges before they took their seat on the Blue Devils bench.

For every Chris Collins or Bobby Hurley that got a seat on the bench there was a David Henderson or a Quin Snyder. (Some may not even realize Kenny Blakeney is the head coach at Howard.) Even the Duke Basketball Report called the K tree "not a terribly inspiring group." And therein lies the problem which Duke can delay but not prevent: elevating a former player that takes over from Kryzyewski just because he is an assistant there will be a huge step down if he lacks experience beyond Cameron Indoor.

I'm not saying alumni shouldn't coach or anything like that. I would prefer recognizing someone who brings a new perspective and experience in other situations and not solely hired because someone's playing career is over--otherwise, we can make the same argument for everyone from Perry McDonald to Darrel Owens to Julian Vaughn to Trey Dickerson to get the same consideration.

[hoyaatheart55]

Austin is one of my favorite Hoyas ever. As somebody mentioned above, his performance in that UConn game was legendary and one I will never forget.

[bigelephant]

Austin Freeman was a true Georgetown Hoya - he was an ace in many ways. I think finding a place on the Hoya coaching staff would enhance his value and enhance Georgetown. He is not asking for a head coaching job here - at least not now.

[tashoya]

Oct 13, 2019 19:52:14 GMT -5 DFW HOYA said:

Oct 13, 2019 19:18:57 GMT -5 MCIGuy said:

For decades now Duke has mostly filled its roster of assistant coaches by hiring former players of K who did not learn the craft of coaching at high school or small colleges before they took their seat on the Blue Devils bench.

For every Chris Collins or Bobby Hurley that got a seat on the bench there was a David Henderson or a Quin Snyder. (Some may not even realize Kenny Blakeney is the head coach at Howard.) Even the Duke Basketball Report called the K tree "not a terribly inspiring group." And therein lies the problem which Duke can delay but not prevent: elevating a former player that takes over from Kryzyewski just because he is an assistant there will be a huge step down if he lacks experience beyond Cameron Indoor.

I'm not saying alumni shouldn't coach or anything like that. I would prefer recognizing someone who brings a new perspective and experience in other situations and not solely hired because someone's playing career is over--otherwise, we can make the same argument for everyone from Perry McDonald to Darrel Owens to Julian Vaughn to Trey Dickerson to get the same consideration.

Admittedly, I'm a huge homer. But your last two examples, IMO, if they were so inclined, would probably be solid coaches.

[Bigs"R"Us]

Freeman is a local product with local ties. A McDonalds All-American and top Big East performer. No one is suggesting he be in line for the head coaching position at GU. He could help with local recruiting and shooting. 😎

[tashoya]

Oct 13, 2019 21:23:51 GMT -5 Bigs"R"Us said:

Freeman is a local product with local ties. A McDonalds All-American and top Big East performer. No one is suggesting he be in line for the head coaching position at GU. He could help with local recruiting and shooting. 😎

I agree with this whole-heartedly, And I'd love to see Austin get his first chance back at home with the Hoyas. It worked out pretty nicely for Jonathan.

[bigelephant]

Pat, are you listening carefully?

[Hoyas4Ever]

Oct 13, 2019 18:33:13 GMT -5 DFW HOYA said:

Oct 13, 2019 18:15:04 GMT -5 dense said:

Paging Mr. Ewing, give this man a job

With all due respects to a good man and a great player, no.

The basketball office is not about hiring former players. Social media has posited any number of players that should be hired not for experience, but largely because of who they were. Names from John Duren to Jabril Trawick periodically come up over the years, but none have the experience at the college level. There was even a thread on Facebook about why Allen Iverson should be hired as an assistant--for one thing, a college degree is required. Experience is why Patrick Ewing put in 17 years as an assistant--he had zero chance to be hired in the NBA (or even at Georgetown) without it.

It's likely that upon his retirement or departure, Patrick Ewing is the last of the Thompson era coaches at Georgetown. For whatever reason, Thompson did not build a legacy of coaching among his former players and neither did JT III. But if Austin Freeman seriously wants to get into coaching, there will be opportunities, but they start in high school and smaller colleges, not the Big East.

Austin Freeman has a very similar resume to Jon Wallace. By all accounts Wallace was excellent as the Special Assistant to Coach Ewing and parlayed that into a front office job with the Denver Nuggets. No reason Freeman couldn't step in and fill that void.

He could also go the high school/AAU route or even a smaller college or D1 route under some of JT3's assistants/turned head coaches like Coach Brennan or Coach Broadus.

My question is why are you so adamant against the idea of Freeman joining the staff? Your narrative painted a fellow Hoya graduate in Freeman as unqualified when that is farthest from the truth. Why don't you want to see your fellow Hoya alums have opportunities? You were completely against Coach Ewing and now Freeman. With you it comes across that it's about getting an exorcism of the entire John Thompson Jr. era at Georgetown in every way possible. What did Coach Thompson do to you? It's starting to seem personal because your consistent in your anti Thompson DRUMBEAT...

[seaweed]

Oct 13, 2019 18:33:13 GMT -5 DFW HOYA said:

Oct 13, 2019 18:15:04 GMT -5 dense said:

Paging Mr. Ewing, give this man a job

With all due respects to a good man and a great player, no.

The basketball office is not about hiring former players. Social media has posited any number of players that should be hired not for experience, but largely because of who they were. Names from John Duren to Jabril Trawick periodically come up over the years, but none have the experience at the college level. There was even a thread on Facebook about why Allen Iverson should be hired as an assistant--for one thing, a college degree is required. Experience is why Patrick Ewing put in 17 years as an assistant--he had zero chance to be hired in the NBA (or even at Georgetown) without it.

It's likely that upon his retirement or departure, Patrick Ewing is the last of the Thompson era coaches at Georgetown. For whatever reason, Thompson did not build a legacy of coaching among his former players and neither did JT III. But if Austin Freeman seriously wants to get into coaching, there will be opportunities, but they start in high school and smaller colleges, not the Big East.

Good job Editeding in the punch bowl, taking a laudatory, congratulatory post about a great member of our community and turning it into an opportunity to bash him and the world in general. Your anger and frustration runeth over again. Once, just once, it would be nice to see this group allow some joy to go unextinguished. Let him have his hard earned moment.

My guess is you have never sat in a room with Mr. Freeman, have no idea what his knowledge of basketball fundamentals is and have no clue whether he could be a good motivator. You probably have not seen him play in a decade. But you KNOW that he should get no consideration for a coaching gig, despite having played for literally dozens of coaches around the world who have taught him god only knows what. Plus, he conquered a life altering medical challenge at a young age, giving him perspective that might just be valuable. Nevertheless, you take him down a notch within hours of him announcing his retirement from the game, with nothing more nice to say than some bland wishy washy “with all due respect” BS. You managed to drag a few other good Hoyas down with him. Your post is quite frankly disgusting to me, with all due respect.

Free was and is a valued contributor to our program, a worthy member of our community and alumni base and a hell of a player. Congratulations to him on a great career, plying his craft and striving to be the best he could. My belief is that he learned enough about life and the game along the way that he can and will be a great coach and leader. If the staff decides to give him a shot, I pray that he does well and thrives. The one thing he has certainly learned as a Hoya is that, no matter how well he does, someone’s going to hate on him and that person may well be a member of the program’s base. I am sure he can handle that as he has before. The dude is class and apparently you could learn something from him about that.

[jwp91]

Oct 14, 2019 6:54:08 GMT -5 seaweed said:

Oct 13, 2019 18:33:13 GMT -5 DFW HOYA said:

With all due respects to a good man and a great player, no.

The basketball office is not about hiring former players. Social media has posited any number of players that should be hired not for experience, but largely because of who they were. Names from John Duren to Jabril Trawick periodically come up over the years, but none have the experience at the college level. There was even a thread on Facebook about why Allen Iverson should be hired as an assistant--for one thing, a college degree is required. Experience is why Patrick Ewing put in 17 years as an assistant--he had zero chance to be hired in the NBA (or even at Georgetown) without it.

It's likely that upon his retirement or departure, Patrick Ewing is the last of the Thompson era coaches at Georgetown. For whatever reason, Thompson did not build a legacy of coaching among his former players and neither did JT III. But if Austin Freeman seriously wants to get into coaching, there will be opportunities, but they start in high school and smaller colleges, not the Big East.

Good job Editeding in the punch bowl, taking a laudatory, congratulatory post about a great member of our community and turning it into an opportunity to bash him and the world in general. Your anger and frustration runeth over again. Once, just once, it would be nice to see this group allow some joy to go unextinguished. Let him have his hard earned moment.

My guess is you have never sat in a room with Mr. Freeman, have no idea what his knowledge of basketball fundamentals is and have no clue whether he could be a good motivator. You probably have not seen him play in a decade. But you KNOW that he should get no consideration for a coaching gig, despite having played for literally dozens of coaches around the world who have taught him god only knows what. Plus, he conquered a life altering medical challenge at a young age, giving him perspective that might just be valuable. Nevertheless, you take him down a notch within hours of him announcing his retirement from the game, with nothing more nice to say than some bland wishy washy “with all due respect” BS. You managed to drag a few other good Hoyas down with him. Your post is quite frankly disgusting to me, with all due respect.

Free was and is a valued contributor to our program, a worthy member of our community and alumni base and a hell of a player. Congratulations to him on a great career, plying his craft and striving to be the best he could. My belief is that he learned enough about life and the game along the way that he can and will be a great coach and leader. If the staff decides to give him a shot, I pray that he does well and thrives. The one thing he has certainly learned as a Hoya is that, no matter how well he does, someone’s going to hate on him and that person may well be a member of the program’s base. I am sure he can handle that as he has before. The dude is class and apparently you could learn something from him about that.

I may not agree with DFW, but he makes reasonable arguments. Not sure this ad hominem attack counts as class...especially when you are using the website that DFW has hosted for Hoyas fans for a couple of decades. If DFW were petty, that would be your last post here.

[DFW HOYA]

Oct 14, 2019 6:54:08 GMT -5 seaweed said:

My guess is you have never sat in a room with Mr. Freeman, have no idea what his knowledge of basketball fundamentals is and have no clue whether he could be a good motivator. You probably have not seen him play in a decade. But you KNOW that he should get no consideration for a coaching gig, despite having played for literally dozens of coaches around the world who have taught him god only knows what. Plus, he conquered a life altering medical challenge at a young age, giving him perspective that might just be valuable. Nevertheless, you take him down a notch within hours of him announcing his retirement from the game, with nothing more nice to say than some bland wishy washy “with all due respect” BS. You managed to drag a few other good Hoyas down with him. Your post is quite frankly disgusting to me, with all due respect...The dude is class and apparently you could learn something from him about that.

Good so see that attribution bias is alive and well on HoyaTalk.

I didn't say alumni shouldn't coach. I didn't say he wasn't a great player. I didn't "drag a few other good Hoyas down". So here's my point again, in case you missed it: a candidate who offers experience is preferred over adding someone just because they played here. If the argument is that Freeman brings something extra to the staff, great...then it's up to the head coach to judge that and decide accordingly.
There are a lot of alumni that could add something to the program but Patrick doesn't have the ability to hire everyone.