Freeman brothers spurns Texas A&M, LSU and commit to Texas Southern
Tim Harvey -- Bleacher Report Writer
Jeremiah Freeman announced Friday he's committed to play college basketball at Texas Southern along with his older brother Joseph Freeman III in an effort to spark a movement of more top recruits choosing historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
Freeman, a 5-star prospect and the No. 1 overall player in the 2021 class in 247Sports' composite rankings, selected the Tigers amid offers from Texas A&M, LSU, Arkansas and others.
The 6-foot-3 guard showed up to his announcement wearing a maroon suit with all signs pointing to Freeman committing to Texas A&M and his brother, a center at Ranger College, being projected to sign with Missouri State. Shortly after Freeman's commitment to the Tigers, Freeman III announced his commitment as well to Texas Southern via social media.
Beyond wanting to put HBCUs on the map, both Freeman brothers highlighted their relationship with Texas Southern head coach Johnny Jones, who tried to recruit Freeman III when he was at LSU.
"We just have a really good relationship with the staff and coach Jones," said Freeman of their joint commitment, "We didn't really plan it, to be honest. We were just talking about schools and Texas Southern just kept coming up, kept coming up. Both of our parents were there, I had the best visit going there so at some point it became 'why not?' and there wasn't a good reason not to go there."
The Tigers finished last season 17-9 and in the SWAC Tournament, they defeated Alcorn State, Jackson State, and Prairie View A&M to win the SWAC Championship. They received a automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament where they defeated Mount St Mary’s in the First Four before losing in the First Round to Michigan.