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DePaul Basketball: Blue Demons land transfer guard Javon Freeman-Liberty

By Cody Mitchell

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JANUARY 18: Head coach Dave Leitao of the DePaul Blue Demons talks to his team in the game against the Butler Bulldogs during the first half at Wintrust Arena on January 18, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JANUARY 18: Head coach Dave Leitao of the DePaul Blue Demons talks to his team in the game against the Butler Bulldogs during the first half at Wintrust Arena on January 18, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /
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DePaul Basketball again found themselves towards the bottom of the Big East conference in 2019-2020. Having a few players enter into the transfer portal, coach Dave Leitao went out and grabbed one himself with Javon Freeman-Liberty.

Former Valparaiso guard Javon Freeman-Liberty announced Friday afternoon he was committing to DePaul Basketball via his twitter page.

Right after the 2019-2020 season concluded, Freeman-Liberty entered his name into the NBA draft while maintaining his college eligibility. With the NBA season in hiatus with no real direction right now, he decided to remove his name and enter the transfer portal. Ultimately he lands on DePaul over other programs including Northwestern and BYU. Freeman attended Whitney Young High School in Chicago right in DePaul’s backyard. A high school powerhouse who has home to NBA players Jahlil Okafor and Quentin Richardson.

Freeman spent two seasons at Valparaiso where he flourished in the Missouri Valley Conference. As a freshman Freeman started every game and made an instant impact, being the team’s second go-to guy behind Derrik Smits. Freeman was named to the Missouri Valley all-defensive team and all-freshman team. Freeman took off in his sophomore campaign, having his points per game jump from 11.0 to 19.0 and his rebounds jumped from 4.3 to 6.1. Freeman was named to the all-conference first team.

"I’m Home #BlueDemons-Javon Freeman-Liberty (@AintuJavon) May 1st, 2020"

DePaul’s 2019-2020 season was again a disappointment after 16-16 record with an abysmal 3-15 conference record. Led by Charlie Moore and Paul Reed, the Demons struggled to get anything else from their role players finishing 9th in the Big East in scoring. With the addition of Freeman, we will see this team be far more competitive if he is eligible next season.

Being only a sophomore his eligibility for next season is still up in the air. The NCAA is having a vote on May 20th to allow a one time transfer rule-making players immediately eligible for the upcoming season. If the vote is denied, Freeman can request a hardship waiver to get his eligibility immediate for the 2020-2021 season.

Coach Leitao has been very active in the transfer market after seeing three of his own players enter into the portal. Freeman is joining Devin Gage and D.J. Williams who is also coming into the program. Awaiting the wait May 20th will give everyone a better idea of what this DePaul team looks going into 2020-2021.

Next. Early Big East power rankings for 2020-21. dark

In the event Freeman does miss next season it won’t be the end of the world. Having a year learning the system and getting accustomed to his teammates should set him up for a big year come 2021-2022.

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