One of the prized offseason additions for Creighton men’s basketball, Iowa transfer big man Owen Freeman, was back at home playing a pick-up game in May. He rose up for a windmill dunk, but the landing went poorly, and he felt a tweak in his knee.
To add insult to the injury, the dunk didn’t go down.
Freeman didn’t think there was anything seriously wrong, but the knee started to swell up when he got to campus, so he went to Creighton’s director of athletic medicine, Ben McNair, to get it checked out. The news wasn’t good: there was a tear, and he needed surgery.
Suddenly, he was on the shelf before he even got a chance to show his new coaches and teammates what he’s capable of.
“Obviously, it’s a hard obstacle to overcome, but I’ve got the right people around me,” Freeman said. “I’m relying on my faith to really just strengthen me to get through it. Obviously, everyone else is in shape, and I had to sit out for two months, so just getting back to it. But I love it, just getting back in the gym, doing as much as they’ll let me. I’m having a lot of fun.”
The offseason is a pivotal time for newcomers who hope to hit the ground running once the season begins. While his teammates went through workouts throughout the summer and fall to learn the program’s foundational principles and build chemistry, Freeman had to settle for mental reps.
“I’m relying a lot on the coaches, and I’m just meeting with them,” Freeman said. “We have a lot of GAs obviously, like Geoff [Groselle]. Geoff is my guy, just being able to learn from him and learn the offense. We have a lot of great people, and obviously that’s why I came here and just being able to learn from all of them.”
Freeman was stuck on the sideline throughout the summer. Now, at least, he’s far enough along in his rehab to put in some work off to the side during practices, even if he’s not ready to participate himself just yet.
“I’m shooting, cutting, jumping. I just started dunking yesterday,” said Freeman, who was doing all of that on the second court during Thursday’s practice. “So moving pretty quick. Ben and Jeremy [Anderson] have been great, just getting me back right. I’m gonna be back soon.”
While Freeman is chomping at the bit, his head coach is taking a more cautious approach with the big picture in view.
“He’s not as close as he thinks he is,” Greg McDermott said. “We’ve just had to kind of keep the brakes on him. This is the challenging part, when you feel better and you feel like you’re 100%, but there’s a system that you have to follow with the surgery that he had. There’s a protocol that we’re going to follow, and we’re not going to push that and risk a setback. So far, we’ve had no setbacks.
“We’re probably three months and a week or so out from surgery. Protocol says four to six months. I think he’s certainly going to be on the front end of that. My hope is by the time the Iowa State scrimmage [on Oct. 17] rolls around that he’ll be back on the practice court.”
Freeman’s injury threw a wrench into Creighton’s plans for the offseason, making it difficult for McDermott to get a true feel for what the 2025-26 team is going to be capable of or the playing style that fits best, particularly on the defensive end. Walk-on Josh Townley-Thomas was the only available big for most of the summer as the other frontcourt additions, Aleksa Dimitrijevic and Kerem Konan, didn’t arrive on campus until late. Jasen Green — who started most of last season at small forward — stepped in at center for a lot of their five-on-five work.
Dimitrijevic broke his nose a couple days after arriving in Omaha and is still wearing a mask during practice. McDermott said Konan, the final addition to the roster, has made big strides in a short amount of time and has a chance to be a really good player, but he still has a lot to learn.
“Kerem got here a little bit late, so we’re trying to get him caught up,” McDermott said. “Obviously, Jasen’s played before center before so we can use him there some as well. We’ve had to do a lot of different things because we don’t have [Ryan] Kalkbrenner standing back there anymore, so we’re going to have to be better in a lot of areas.”
Freeman’s impending return will provide a big boost for the Jays. The 6-foot-10, 240-pound center earned Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors in 2023-24 after averaging 10.6 points on 61.4% shooting, 6.6 rebounds and 1.8 blocks for the Hawkeyes. Last season, he put up 16.7 points per game on 63.8% from the field with 6.7 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game in 19 games before a finger injury sidelined him for the rest of the season.
Freeman is hoping his experience will be valuable for a Creighton squad that includes nine newcomers and only two returning starters. He’s also looking to continue expanding his game within McDermott’s well-regarded offense.
“Playing back to the basket is a huge strength of mine, but also expanding my game, I kind of was able to show that with some glimpses last year, just being able to take guys off the dribble, and obviously working on my outside shot has been huge,” Freeman said. “We have the right people here to help me improve that and become more confident in that.”
Freeman already has great on-court chemistry with one of his teammates as Josh Dix also transferred into the program from Iowa, but he’s been impressed with what he’s seen from the group as a whole while he continues to work toward joining them.
“I think we’ve got a great group,” Freeman said. “We kind of have everything you need. Coach Mac was kind of talking about it with us, like this is one of the deepest teams we’ve ever had, just all the talent we have top to bottom. We have a great group, and it’s going to be a really fun year …
“It gets competitive, for sure, and that’s the best part. We have guys who want to win, and ultimately, that’s why we’re all here, because we know Creighton wins games. That was a huge selling point. I want to win some games and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Freeman still has a few weeks left in his rehab, but the end of the tunnel is in sight, and he said he’s hungry and itching to get back out there with his teammates.
