Among all the news coming out recently surrounding the Auburn Tigers and the eligibility of some of the program’s players, one question has been up in the air until now.
What is the return status of forward Owen Freeman?
That question has been answered in time for the start of the 2026-2027 season for Steven Pearl’s squad, and it is some that trends more in the positive direction.
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“He's done a good job in practice up to this point, continuing to push himself,” Pearl said. “Based on how he's practiced, I would imagine him playing (Wednesday) on restricted minutes. But I'm always going to leave that up to the player, the student-athlete. I'll talk to him today after practice and see how he's feeling, and if he wants to give it a go tomorrow, we'll let him loose.
Freeman, a 6-foot-10 transfer from Creighton, fell victim to a foot injury back in the summer, sidelining him for some time. However, once preseason practices got underway and rolling, the big man started to work his way back.
While he will carry a light and limited load to begin the year, there is a chance and hope that he will be a full go by the time the Tigers head to Las Vegas in the middle of November to take on the Players Era Festival.
Freeman said that he feels great himself, and while he could have been a go in the exhibition games, he did not want to run the risk of reaggravating his foot again.
“I feel great, body feels great,” Freeman told reporters on Tuesday. “I probably could have played against Samford, but we wanted to play it safe. Only had three practices under my belt. But I’m really excited. I feel great and I’m excited to get out there.”
Freeman has been plagued by the injury bug throughout his college career, having suffered a knee injury during his time at Creighton in a pickup basketball game he was playing in Illinois.
However, he said his recovery has been largely rooted in his faith, making him that much more excited to return to the floor.
“I know that the Lord’s had a plan and I’ve just kind of trusted in that,” Freeman said. “The opportunity to just come out here and play this game after going through all these injuries, it’s just a huge blessing for me and I credit all that to Him and I’m just really excited to get back out there.”
Through all of his injuries, Freeman has gotten the chance to learn a lot of things. While it has sometimes been a mental battle, he knows it has made him better.
“I think it just shows I can do hard things. I’m resilient,” Freeman said. “The beginning of my career, I’ve never gone through injuries. I was kind able to show up whenever I wanted and go play. But here, it kind of showed me to build my foundation on the right thing instead of what people say. I built it on my faith and stuff like that, so that really helped and allowed me to develop a great work ethic. Like I’m going to do this for me and no one else.
Before playing at Creighton for one season, Freeman spent two years at Iowa, where he was named the 2024 Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
Freeman is part of a taller big man group for Auburn, which includes 7-foot-1 Bukky Oboye and 7-foot Narcisse Ngoy, both of whom also transferred into the program this season.
The Tigers open up the season on Wednesday at 7 p.m. CST against Southeastern Louisiana in Neville Arena.
Auburn Undercover is an independent Auburn sports media company covering Auburn athletics, recruiting and insider news.
