Donald E. Freeman (born July 18, 1944) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. He spent eight seasons (1967–1975) in the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger, American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, ...

(ABA) and one season ( 1975–1976) in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA). Freeman was the youngest of four children.

High school and college career

A 6'3" guard, Freeman attended

Madison High School Madison High School may refer to: * Madison County High School (Alabama), Gurley, Alabama * Madison High School (Idaho), Rexburg, Idaho * Madison Consolidated High School, Madison, Indiana * Madison High School (Kansas), Madison, Kansas * Kentucky ...

and the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

. At Illinois, he scored 1449 points and averaged 20.1 points and 10.3 rebounds per game over his three varsity seasons. After finishing his college career as the most prolific scorer in Illinois history, he now ranks 12th all-time in Illinois scoring, and set a record for most points in a season (668), averaging 27.8 in 1965–66. He received first team All Big Ten and first team All-American honors that same season. In 2004, he was named to the University of Illinois' All Century Team.

Playing career

He was selected by the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eas ...

in the third round of the 1966 NBA Draft. Freeman never played for the Sixers; rather, he spent the first eight seasons of his career in the ABA, playing for the

Minnesota Muskies The Minnesota Muskies were a member of the American Basketball Association, born with the league's creation on February 2, 1967. L.P. Shields and Fred Jefferson were the owners after paying a franchise fee of $30,000. The team then played one seaso ...

Miami Floridians The Miami Floridians, later in their history known simply as The Floridians, were a professional basketball franchise in the original, now-defunct American Basketball Association. The Miami Floridians played in the ABA from 1968 through 1970 wh ...

, Texas/Dallas Chaparrals,

Utah Stars The Utah Stars were an American Basketball Association (ABA) team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Under head coach Bill Sharman the Stars were the first major professional basketball team to use a pre-game shootaround. History prior to moving to ...

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...

, and

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Division ( ...

. He scored 11,544 during his ABA career and appeared in five

ABA All-Star Game The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a professional basketball league founded in 1967. The ABA ceased to exist after merging with the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1976. In total, the league held nine all-star game An all- ...

s. His point total ranks 7th all-time in the ABA. Freeman then joined the NBA's

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

in 1975. He spent one season with that club, averaging 10.8 points per game before retiring in 1976. After his career ended, he returned to

Champaign Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metropo ...

, Illinois, where he launched a career in banking. His son, also named Don, was born in 1967, and later attended

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...

on a tennis scholarship. In 1981, he moved to Texas and later to

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

, where he still resides.

Honors

Basketball

* 1965 – 3rd Team All-

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

* 1966 – Team Captain * 1966 – Team MVP * 1966 – 1st Team All-Big Ten * 1966 – 1st Team All-American * 1973 – Inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association's Hall of Fame as a player. * 2004 – Elected to the " Illini Men's Basketball All-Century Team". * 2008 – Honored as one of the 33 honored jerseys which hang in the

State Farm Center The State Farm Center is a large dome-shaped 15,544-seat indoor arena located in Champaign, Illinois, owned and operated by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The arena hosts games for the Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball, ...

to show regard for being the most decorated basketball players in the University of Illinois' history. * 2019 – Inducted into the Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame

College

Sports-Reference.com
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ABA/NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

All-star game

References

External links

@basketball-reference.com

@Remember the ABA

The Scout

fightingillini.com

The Telegraph {{DEFAULTSORT:Freeman, Donnie 1944 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people African-American basketball players Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Illinois Dallas Chaparrals players Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball players Indiana Pacers players Los Angeles Lakers players Minnesota Muskies players Miami Floridians players People from Madison, Illinois Philadelphia 76ers draft picks Point guards San Antonio Spurs players Shooting guards Sportspeople from Greater St. Louis Texas Chaparrals players Utah Stars players