INDIANAPOLIS — If it weren’t for his mom, Enrique Freeman would not be with the Indiana Pacers.
The 23-year old forward played basketball growing up and through high school, but he didn’t go to college specifically for the sport. He actually received an academic scholarship at the University of Akron.
But he wasn’t away from the hardwood for long. Freeman would try out for the basketball team at the MAC school and ended up walking on with the program — something he wouldn’t have done if it weren’t for his mom, Tania Torres.
“My friends and then my mom,” Freeman said when asked who pushed him to try out for the squad. He was speaking with reporters after his first practice ahead of summer league with the Pacers. “My mom really was the number one who pushed me. She was like ‘you didn’t try out your first year, you need to go ahead and try out your second year’.” Freeman was intimidated after time away from the sport, but he went for it.
It wasn’t a perfect session in front of Akron coaches, but it went well enough for the Cleveland native to make the team. He only played in seven games that season, but he kept getting better and better. He played in 23 outings during his second season, and that included 20 starts.
His production climbed as he got more opportunities. He averaged double-digit points per game for the first time in his third year. The following season, he upped his usage and still was efficient. In his fifth and final campaign, he put it all together and averaged 19 points and 13 rebounds a night. He even mixed in some three pointers as he tried to become a more modern player to appease NBA scouts.
So it was fitting that after his fifth season, Freeman’s mother was still a part of his basketball journey. She sat next to him as he was draft 50th overall by the Indiana Pacers in the 2024 NBA Draft, which kept Freeman in the midwest. “It feels good,” the rookie forward joked. “I’m in the same time zone.”
As the selection was aired on TV, Freeman celebrated with his mom. “Yeah, she’d always get emotional so I said ‘Mom, relax’,” Freeman recalled of the moment. “I called her yesterday after our first practice and she said ‘how did it go?’. She’s just so stoked.”
Now, Freeman is in Indiana. The team liked that he was a more established prospect that can rebound at a high level, and they hope he can develop in their program. The Ohio native said his first day of summer league camp went well. The fast pace was exciting to him, and he’s learning a lot in a short amount of time.
“It was so unreal. It felt like a dream come true. Hugging my mom, it’s like all the hard work you work hard for to get this opportunity to play here is amazing,” Freeman said of getting the draft-night call from Indiana. “For them to believe in me and my game, it feels amazing.”
In many ways, he feels like his basketball journey so far will propel him with the blue and gold. He had to work his way up from try out to walk on to starter to conference player of the year. That path was open to Freeman because, in his eyes, he worked hard and was tough. Now, as a late second rounder, he’ll have a chance to work his way up again.
So far, he likes his fit with the Pacers. After realizing the NBA was a possibility at the conclusion of the 2022-23 NCAA season, Freeman got to work making his game pro ready. He expanded his range and added speed. Those traits alone put him in a good spot, on paper, with Indiana.
“I love it,” Freeman said of his fit with the team. “They go out and run. I’m a good runner, I run the floor pretty hard.” Freeman added that rebounding is his best skill, and it keeps him on the floor. His IQ is underrated in his eyes.
“He’s really athletic. So he has a lot of upside, a lot of things he does really well,” Pacers forward Jarace Walker said of Freeman. Walker called the rookie a bigger wing who can get by his defender, which is a valuable player archetype.
Given how Indiana’s free agency has gone, the most likely outcome for Freeman is a two-way contract this season. That will give him chances to play both with the Pacers and in the G League with the Indiana Mad Ants. For a talented player who is developing modern skills, that is perhaps the best route.
Freeman will keep trying to ascend through the basketball ranks and prove that he belongs. The next place he will do it is in Indianapolis after getting drafted by the Pacers, and it’s all possible because of his mom.