Austin Freeman, Might be a Hoya but Sure to have Cheering Sections Everywhere

Austin Freeman is a Junior guard on the Georgetown Hoyas basketball team. He is their leading scorer and three point shooter, putting him at 10th in the Big East in scoring and third in the league in three point shooting percentage. He is a candidate for Big East most improved player. And now Austin Freeman is a young man that has been diagnosed with diabetes.

Having been sick recently, limited in a loss to Notre Dame on Saturday February 27, and out for the team's Big Monday matchup on ESPN at West Virginia in which the Hoyas lost again, Freeman believed it to be a simple stomach virus. After going to the hospital however, he was diagnosed with diabetes, and his future is uncertain.

Freeman and coach John Thompson the III both believe that his return to the court is a certainty, as the quiet and low-key Freeman states himself to be alright:

It's going to be a certain change in my diet and my life. But I know I can deal with it. I'll be fine.

Freeman has really been under the radar until the middle of this season, when his abilities and scoring remained consistent as the Big East season went along. Having been overshadowed by DaJuan Summers last year, and who I believed to be overhyped and overrated Greg Monroe (whom I have reconsidered those adjectives when describing Monroe after his great play of late), Freeman has been the silent assassin. I thought him to be the best player on the team the last two years. Certainly Syracuse fans know of his skill; averaging 22 points a game this year against the Orange, and 16 a game in his three year involvement in the rivalry.

Wherever the Hoyas go, and whatever seedings they get, they will have one player that all are cheering for. I hope that this is just a minor speed bump for Freeman, because his career at Georgetown could be a special one if he can get through this.