Instant Peay Play: Chris Freeman making senior year his time to shine for APSU Governors

Clarksville, TN – Austin Peay men’s basketball senior Chris Freeman has waited and worked over the past three years to get his time to show the potential that had him listed as one of the top-10 recruits out of the state of Kentucky and so far this season he has done that.

Coming into this season, Freeman had just four starts, averaging 3.9 points and 2.7 rebounds in just under 12 minutes of action per game.

“Now that the door is kind of open I’m trying to do my best to take advantage of it.”

This season the 6-foot-6 forward has started all eight games, averaging 12.6 points and 4.4 rebounds in 29.8 minutes per contest while shooting a team-best .646 percent from the floor and .850 percent from the free throw line.

“I feel for the most part I’ve done my job (this year) and I’ve lived up to some of my expectations,” Freeman said. “I’ve done what the coaches have asked me to do I just want to go out with a bang.

“The past couple of seasons have been disappointing and not up to expectations. I want to leave here doing my best to try to get this program back to where it’s used to being, which is a winning program.”

Freeman also added that despite any ups and downs and roadblocks over his years at Austin Peay, the coaches have always been in his corner.

“The coaches have encouraged me and stayed in my corner when times were getting rough and I was getting discouraged,” he said. “Coach (Dave) Loos has constantly encouraged me to keep on going and to keep pushing because your time is coming.”

And now with this being his time to show his talents, Freeman has also had to change his mental approach being in the starting lineup rather than coming off the bench.

“I’ve definitely had to change my mindset,” he said. “I’ve had to shift into attack mode and being ready right off the bat instead of easing into the game.

“Coming off the bench early in my career you’re able to set back and see what was going on and watch what the people in front of you were doing, whereas now it’s kind of like I have to stay ready for any and everything that could happen.”

And with the Ohio Valley Conference part of the schedule right around the corner, Freeman is really to help lead the Governors back into the post season for the first time since his freshman campaign.

“It would be real big for me, because my freshman year I got a taste of what it was like to be in the postseason,” he said. “For these younger guys that are just coming in and having not experienced that it’s a lot of fun just to be at that competitive level and trying to fight for a trophy or a championship.”