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Exclusive | Donnie Freeman tells The Post how Rick Pitino changed his St. John’s transfer fate

Nypost · · 152 words · By Zach Braziller
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What to know about Exclusive

A week ago, Donnie Freeman was close to making his choice.

Claims checked 3
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center67%
Right33%

3 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

A week ago, Donnie Freeman was close to making his choice.

Why it matters

John’s beat like never before Get Zach Braziller’s text messages with all the latest St.

Common ground

John’s info and get your questions answered — exclusive to Sports+ subscribers.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://nypost.com/2026/04/21/sports/donnie-freeman-on-how-rick-pitino-st-johns-…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 3 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 3
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Claim 1: “Donnie Freeman... picked St. John’s over Kentucky”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent sources (ESPN and other web search results) confirm that Donnie Freeman committed to St. John's over Kentucky.
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web search NEUTRAL — Kentucky Wildcats St. John's Red Storm. For the last few days, Mark Pope and the Kentucky coaching staff have been in a really good spot for Syracuse transfer forward Donnie Freeman , but this morning…
https://www.si.com/college/kentucky/men-s-basketball/this-qu…
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web search NEUTRAL — Kentucky recently hosted Freeman for a visit and was thought to be close to securing his commitment, but a late push from Pitino and the Johnnies leaves Mark Pope and Co. once again trying to rebound …
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/donnie-freeman-commits-st-…
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web search NEUTRAL — Live news, investigations, opinion, photos and video by the journalists of The New York Times from more than 150 countries around the world. Subscribe for coverage of U.S. and international news, poli…
https://www.nytimes.com/
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Claim 2: “Rick Pitino got involved”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm Rick Pitino's involvement, specifically mentioning a 'late push from Pitino' and that Freeman joined 'Rick Pitino and the Red Storm'.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Richard Andrew Pitino is an American basketball coach who is the head men's basketball coach at St. John's University. He was also the head coach of Greece's senior national team.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Pitino
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web search NEUTRAL — BREAKING: St. John’s has landed Syracuse transfer Donnie Freeman, source told @thefieldof68. The 6-9 sophomore forward averaged 16.5 points and 7.2 boards this past season. Huge pickup for Rick Pitino…
https://news.google.com/stories/CAAqNggKIjBDQklTSGpvSmMzUnZj…
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web search NEUTRAL — On Monday, Freeman announced he would be transferring to St. John's. Kentucky was involved in a game of chicken with Syracuse Forward Donnie Freeman. After expecting to seal the deal with a commitment…
https://www.si.com/college/kentucky/men-s-basketball/kentuck…
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Claim 3: “the Syracuse transfer’s recruitment”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent sources, including ESPN and @thefieldof68, explicitly identify Donnie Freeman as a 'Syracuse transfer'.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — BREAKING: St. John’s has landed Syracuse transfer Donnie Freeman, source told @thefieldof68. The 6-9 sophomore forward averaged 16.5 points and 7.2 boards this past season. Huge pickup for Rick Pitino…
https://news.google.com/stories/CAAqNggKIjBDQklTSGpvSmMzUnZj…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Syracuse transfer Donnie Freeman committed to St. John's, sources told ESPN on Monday, with the Red Storm beating out Kentucky for the talented forward.
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/4854…
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web search NEUTRAL — Donnie Freeman is in the transfer portal. Came to as the highest-rated prospect since Carmelo Anthony. Only played 14 games in frosh yr due to injury.
https://www.sportingnews.com/us/ncaa-basketball/news/donnie-…
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.