What Auburn basketball is getting in Creighton big Owen Freeman

An accomplished low-post scorer with proven high-major production joins the revamped frontcourt, looking to rediscover his form.

Apr 30, 2026

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AUBURN — It’s no secret that Auburn basketball likes players with chips on their shoulders.

It’s a program that has found so much success in recent years by mining the mid-majors and even lower levels of college basketball to find championship-caliber talent. Players who weren’t household names coming out of high school can prove they belonged all along on the Plains.

There’s another flavor of this type of player: The former high-major player searching for a larger role and fresh start. Walker Kessler was the ultimate example of this, going from a reserve 5-star at North Carolina to National Defensive Player of the Year at Auburn. Most recently, Auburn picked up Kevin Overton after a turbulent season at Texas Tech and turned him into a key sharpshooting piece.

“We’ve had a lot of guys that have come from the mid-major levels or guys that have been overlooked, have something to prove,” Steven Pearl said Tuesday. “And I think if you look at our roster right now, whether it’s guys coming off an injury that have shown to have success at a high level, but also guys that have played at the mid major level for a long time… we’ve built a team that looks a lot like our teams in the past.”

The player coming off of an injury that Pearl was referring to was Owen Freeman, a 6-foot-10 big man from the Midwest looking to get a once-promising trajectory back on track in the SEC.

Freeman joined Auburn last week during a wave of frontcourt additions, including Santa Clara center Bukky Oboye and French import Narcisse Ngoy. Unlike those two 7-footers, though, Freeman gave the Tigers an experienced high-major piece to add to a rebuilt unit.

A former high school state champion in Illinois, Freeman started his college basketball journey at Iowa with a bang, earning 2024 Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors — the first Hawkeye to win the award in 30 years. He started each of the final 25 games that season, combining elite scoring efficiency with top-10 rebounding numbers in the conference.

As a sophomore, Freeman took his game to the next level — scoring 14 or more points in every game he played while increasing his stat production across the board. His top KenPom comparison that season? Johni Broome’s first year at Auburn.

Unfortunately, his second-year surge was cut short by a season-ending finger injury.

After a coaching change at Iowa, Freeman jumped into the transfer portal and was a big-name addition for Creighton. However, he suffered a serious knee injury in the summer while playing pickup at home, and never seemed to fully get going with the Bluejays. He started just nine times and averaged fewer than 12 minutes per game.

Looking for a full reset, Freeman returned to the portal and found a landing spot at Auburn — where he will reunite with assistant coach Matt Gatens, who was on staff during his time at Iowa.

Freeman won’t carry the burden of having to be the guy for Auburn’s frontcourt this upcoming season, thanks to the work the Tigers did elsewhere in the portal. But if he can tap back into what made him a breakout star in the Big Ten, the Tigers might have gotten a steal that further rounds out what they want to do up front.

We’ll continue our new player breakdowns for Auburn basketball here at The Observer with a deep dive into what the Tigers could be getting in Freeman. We’ll look at his film and numbers from Creighton and Iowa, identify his strengths and weaknesses as a big man and try to project what his future could look like on the Plains.

VITALS

Position: Forward/Center
Height: 6-foot-10
- Freeman offers another size boost to the Auburn frontcourt, which is already set to feature a pair of 7-footers.
Weight: 240
- He sports a full frame that helps him establish position and battle on the low block.
Age: 21
- Freeman was born in November 2004 and will turn 22 during the season.
Class: Incoming Senior
- He could have up to two years of eligibility remaining, depending on the outcome of the NCAA’s proposed five-in-five rule change.
Previous: Iowa (Freshman & Sophomore) | Creighton (Junior)
- Freeman built his reputation at Iowa as an efficient interior scorer before transferring to Creighton, where recovery from an offseason knee injury and role limitations led to a significant drop in production.

2025-26 STATISTICS

26 games — 9 starts
- 11.9 minutes per game
5.0 points per game
4.0 rebounds per game
0.9 assists per game
0.8 blocks per game
0.5 steals per game
60.2% FG
- All of Freeman’s shot attempts came from close range, going 56-93 on the season.
65.6% FT
- He went 18-28 from the free throw line.
Preseason First Team All-Big East
- Freeman entered the season with high expectations before seeing a significant reduction in role and production.

First 8 Games:

10.1 points | 5.5 rebounds | 1.0 assists | 1.0 blocks | 1.0 steals
- 17.3 minutes per game
71.2% FG | 70% FT

→ included starts against Gonzaga, Baylor, Iowa State and Oregon

Final 18 Games:

2.7 points | 3.3 rebounds | 0.8 assists | 0.8 blocks | 0.3 steals
- 9.4 minutes per game
46.3% FG | 61.1% FT

2023-24 SEASON STATISTICS (IOWA)

34 games — 25 starts

10.6 points | 6.6 rebounds | 1.2 assists | 1.8 blocks | 0.9 steals

61.4% FG | 66.1% FT

Big Ten Freshman of the Year
Big Ten All-Freshman Team

→ 9x Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors — 2nd-most in conference history
→ 5 double-doubles
→ 12 games with 3+ blocks

2024-25 SEASON STATISTICS (IOWA)

19 games — 19 starts

16.7 points | 6.7 rebounds | 1.3 assists | 1.8 blocks | 0.6 steals

63.8% FG | 60% FT

→ 3 double-doubles
→ 8 games with 3+ blocks

ARCHETYPE

Old-School Big

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