Before rising from the junior college ranks to become a two-year contributor and a crucial part of Auburn’s Final Four run last season, Chad Baker-Mazara had to take a step back to Northwest Florida State College in the 2022–2023 season after starting his career at Duquesne and San Diego State. Bruce Pearl is now searching the small-school ranks for a possible replacement on the wing at Auburn as the 25-year-old Baker-Mazara returns to the portal.
Elyjah Freeman, a standout player at Division II Lincoln Memorial University, committed to Pearl via the transfer portal on Saturday. Being the fourth player in Pearl’s summer transfer portal class, the 6-foot-8 wing averaged over 20 points per game as a knockdown outside shooter with length and athleticism to reach the hoop. Despite this, he poses a serious risk.
Auburn adds D2 wing Elyjah Freeman to transfer portal class
Pearl had to replace his whole starting lineup after leading the Tigers to their second Final Four in program history. As the final important player to leave, Baker-Mazara might be replaced by a number of members of the new class. Transfer of UCF Kevin Overton is a streaky shooter with remarkable defensive skills, and Keyshawn Hall is a talented 6-foot-8 left-handed scorer, but Freeman may be the most obvious replacement. Yet, that doesn’t mean this move is certain to succeed.
After his first season at Lincoln Memorial, Freeman most definitely earned the promotion from D2 to the SEC, but it’s a big jump. With the idea that he would be Auburn’s starting point guard, Pearl signed JP Pegues from Furman in the Southern Conference during the previous offseason. However, Pegues struggled to see the floor the remainder of the season and was benched following the Maui Invitational.
With 14 of the 16 teams making it to the NCAA Tournament last season, the SEC is a completely different animal. Even while Freeman lacks the height and athleticism problems that beset the 6-foot-2, 180-pound Pegues, it’s still possible that he may experience a similar outcome, especially in Year 1.
However, Freeman might thrive at a top-tier school like Auburn thanks to the extra resources and coaching he gets there. After following his head coach Ben McCollum from D2 Northwest Missouri State to Drake, Bennett Stirtz ended as an honorable mention All-American in his first season and is predicted to be a star at Iowa in the Big Ten the following year. In recent years, a number of small-school transfers have played important roles for conference-title hopefuls, even in the SEC.
Chaz Lanier recently earned Second-Team All-SEC honors after transferring from North Florida to Knoxville, and Dalton Knecht, despite not being a D2 program, came to Tennessee from Northern Colorado after starting his career at a junior college. Baker-Mazara, who came to Auburn from Northwest Florida State, was another well-traveled individual.
As Freeman moves to the SEC, Pearl and his team might need to exercise patience with him, but this significant risk might work to his advantage.
