Tommy Freeman has always hit shots far from the basket. Starting today, he will start playing the game he loves far from home.
Freeman will catch a flight to England this afternoon to join his new team, the Worcester Wolves. Freeman signed with the team this summer after finishing his career at Ohio. He is a member of the 1,000-point club and is the Bobcats’ all-time 3-point scoring leader.
He will adjust to a new 3-point line next year in the British Basketball League. He will have to adjust again the following year when the league adopts an even farther arc distance.
But these days, Freeman is used to quick adjustments. The Wolves just emailed him with his flight information yesterday.
“They emailed me at 5:30 (yesterday) morning and said, ‘Your flight leaves from Indianapolis at 2 p.m. tomorrow,’” Freeman said during a visit with coach John Groce.
His schedule before his departure was packed more tightly than his bags will be. He still had to visit family in Dayton, drive back to his hometown of Muncie, Ind., store his truck and pack before driving more than an hour to the airport this morning.
Freeman said he will be living in an apartment with three of his teammates. The season begins Oct. 1.
Groce said he has faith that his former player will adapt to the European 3-point line.
“You’ll have no problem with that,” Groce said, addressing Freeman. “When I first got here, he might have, when he was bench pressing about five pounds. But now he’s good to go.”
Freeman’s new coach in Worcester, Paul James, also found a lot to like in the 3-point specialist.
“Tommy’s stats, and more so his game DVDs, showed me that he is a proven scorer from distance and will be a good addition to our BBL team,” James said in a statement this summer.
“He will be a threat that our opponents will have to take seriously. Alongside this, he is a very hard-nosed player with a great work ethic who can take the ball to the basket and set up plays for his teammates.”
Freeman hit 99 3-pointers his senior season to break his own single-season Ohio record. He made 259 shots from long range in his career.
Former Bobcat DeVaughn Washington also signed to play in Europe this summer. Washington will play for Saint-Etienne in France’s Pro B League.
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