Donnie Freeman is expected to miss the 2026-27 season after suffering an Achilles injury during summer workouts, a blow that changes St. John’s plans before the year begins. Rick Pitino said Freeman was hurt in those workouts, ending any immediate hope that the newcomer would fill the major role he had been expected to handle next season.
The timing matters because Freeman had been one of the biggest offseason additions for the Red Storm. He averaged 16.5 points and 7.2 rebounds last season, numbers that showed why he was seen as a major piece for the coming year. For St. John’s, the injury does not just remove a scorer and rebounder; it removes a player the program had counted on to help shape its rotation right away.
Freeman’s path to St. John’s had already been a notable one. At one point, he appeared likely to join Kentucky Basketball for the 2026-27 season, but he ultimately signed with the St. John’s Red Storm after an 11th-hour push from Pitino. That made him a Syracuse transfer with real expectations attached, and those expectations grew because the roster picture had pointed to a meaningful role from the start.
What makes the setback harder is that injuries had already been a problem throughout Freeman’s college career. That history makes the current loss more than a one-season inconvenience, because it raises the same question programs always face after an Achilles injury: when, and how fully, will the player come back? The current expectation is that Freeman will miss the 2026-27 season, but no specific return date has been confirmed beyond the hope that he could be available for the 2027-28 season.
For St. John’s, the immediate consequence is clear. A player brought in to matter next season will not be there for it, and the roster plan has to move on without him. Freeman now becomes less a reason to project the Red Storm’s ceiling and more a reminder of how quickly one summer workout can alter an entire season.
