Donnie Freeman tore his Achilles in a workout. The injury was noncontact. Surgery has already been performed.
The loss of the Syracuse transfer is a significant blow to St. John's heading into the 2026-27 season, and it cost the Red Storm spots in the CBS Sports preseason Top 25 And 1 rankings. St. John's dropped to No. 17 in Version 19 of the rankings, released this week.
Freeman averaged 16.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game for Syracuse last season as a sophomore and had been projected as a starter for St. John's. His absence reshapes what Rick Pitino's roster can realistically do next year.
Pitino addressed the injury on social media. "Donnie is an awesome young man," he wrote. "We will get him back better than ever!"
Florida held the No. 1 spot in the updated rankings. The Gators are projected to return six of their top seven scorers from a team that won the SEC by three games and earned a No. 1 seed in the 2026 NCAA Tournament. That group includes Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon, Boogie Fland, Rueben Chinyelu, Urban Klavzar and Isaiah Brown. Florida will also add Kentucky transfer Denzel Aberdeen and 7-foot center Jones Lay.
The other major mover in the rankings was Michigan, which dropped from No. 3 to No. 8 after head coach Dusty May left the program to take a job with the Dallas Mavericks. That departure was announced the day before the first night of last week's NBA Draft. May's replacement, Boynton, will take charge of a program that still ranks in the preseason top 10.
Duke held at No. 2, with the Blue Devils returning four of their top six scorers including Patrick Ngongba II and Caleb Foster.
Freeman's recovery timeline was not specified, but Achilles tears typically require extended rehabilitation. His availability for any part of the season remains uncertain.
