Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Olympic basketball star to transfer to Findlay Prep

Olympic High basketball star Allerik Freeman will play his senior year at Findlay Prep in Henderson, Nevada, a suburb of Las Vegas.

Findlay Prep head coach Micahel Peck confirmed that Freeman, a 6-foot-3, 195-pound junior, would be leaving Charlotte and heading west for his senior year of high school. Freeman initially tweeted “Findlay Prep bound” on his Twitter account Wednesday afternoon.

Freeman and Olympic coach Ty Baumgardner did not return calls to the Observer.

ESPN ranks Freeman the nation’s No. 13 overall recruit in the class of 2013 and No. 5 at his position. ESPN has ranked Freeman as high as No. 9 nationally. He was a first team All Charlotte Observer and Associated Press all-state pick this season. He has narrowed his potential college choices to Duke, Kansas, Ohio State, Villanova and UCLA.

Freeman averaged 17.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.3 steals at Olympic last season, helping the Trojans to a 28-2 record and a second straight appearance in the N.C. 4A Western regional tournament.

At Findlay, he will join a team that has won three of the past four ESPN National High School Invitational tournaments. Last season, the Pilots finished 32-1 and averaged 93.8 points per game. It won its games by more than 30 points.

In five seasons under coach Peck, Findley Prep is 157-8, including 65-0 at home and it has produced six McDonald’s All Americans.

“Findlay is kind of like the Oak Hill of the West,” ESPN national recruiting analyst Dave Telep said. “It’s one of those places that a lot of high level kids in the last five years have opted to attend. Allerik’s a high level, high major basketball player and he’s going to a place where he’s not going to be the only one. I don’t know enough about it, but his reasoning probably includes playing with and against other high level guys on a daily basis.”

Freeman is the second player to leave Olympic, following shooting guard Austin Dasent, who will enroll at Charlotte’s Northside Christian private school next fall as a junior.

Below is a highlight video

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Best move by any Prep player in the Charlotte area. He will sign with UCLA, obviously. If you are trying to take it to the next level you cannot attend CMS. If you do, best of luck.

Mackey said...

You're Obviously not from the Charlotte area. There are a PLETHERA of Public school kids who were nationally ranked and moved on to colleges...lol Kids don't have to attend these "Prep Schools" to go Division 1. That's just hype.

Anonymous said...

I hate to see Allerik Freeman go! He is a class act and makes CMS basketball some of the best HS bball in the country. FP is a joke. It is a basketball factory and puts the players in very compromising positions prior to college entry. Freeman had one of the best coaches in the Southeast in Ty Bumgardner at Olympic. Ty did an outstanding job with Freeman and for him to leave in his senior year, shows poor decision making. He is already a top recruit and it is not like Charlotte is lacking in quality talent. Hate this for CMS, Freeman and Olympic.

Anonymous said...

This is going to start happening with baseball too. There is one confirmed kid who will not attend Olympic because of the coach there and two others that may not attend.

Anonymous said...

Now that's a transfer!!!. If you're going to transfer, go to a place where you can play against elite competition everyday in practice and every game. Don't transfer to these bum private schools around here where you'll basically play the same level (or even weaker) competition than in CMS. This is a kid that really wants to get better and is not running from a tough coach or doesn't want to work. Good luck!!