Brayon Freeman kicked off the Rhode Island basketball team
SOUTH KINGSTOWN — Brayon Freeman has been dismissed from the University of Rhode Island men’s basketball program.
The Rams announced the decision in a Monday afternoon statement. URI coach Archie Miller confirmed the sophomore guard’s tenure was over during a following press conference at the Ryan Center.
More:Did URI find its groove Tuesday night vs. Stony Brook?
“He’s no longer with us and we’re going to do everything we can to support his finish here at the university,” Miller said. “I’ll kind of leave it at that.
“As you go through the grind of the season, there are a lot of ups and downs along that way. In most cases you’re living day to day. I think from a big-picture standpoint it was the right move for us.”
Freeman is expected to remain enrolled at the school and complete his academic requirements for the second semester. It’s assumed he’ll be entering the NCAA transfer portal for the second time in the coming days.
Freeman ranked second on the team in scoring at 14.3 points per game and posted five games of 20 points or better. He played 27 minutes in a Saturday loss at George Mason, collecting 11 points, two assists and two steals in a 75-67 road defeat. He was a preseason all-conference selection in the Atlantic 10 after being named to the all-rookie team at George Washington in 2021-22.
“I will surely grow from this experience and continue to follow my dreams while maintaining my morals and principles,” Freeman said in a statement posted and subsequently deleted from his personal Twitter account. “There are no mistakes in life, only lessons.”
Freeman was a healthy scratch in a 74-64 victory over Stony Brook on Nov. 15. He sat for an extended stretch in the second half against the Patriots, checking in for the final time with 35.5 seconds left in an eight-point game. Freeman appeared to express his displeasure with his usage during another since-deleted postgame tweet.
“It’s a difference from teaching and disrespecting,” Freeman said.
Freeman left the Colonials after the firing of head coach Jamion Christian and landed with the Rams through assistant coach Kenny Johnson. He started 0-for-10 from the field with four turnovers in two games before not appearing against the Seawolves. Freeman eventually began rounding into form at the Cayman Islands Classic, averaging 16.7 points during a 1-2 trip over Thanksgiving.
Freeman’s highlights at URI included a tying layup late in regulation that led to an overtime win over UMass Lowell. He netted 23 of his 25 points in the second half of a home loss to George Mason and followed with 21 points in a 75-70 home upset of Dayton on Jan. 25. What was starting to look like an upward trajectory crashed a little more than two weeks later.
“I do think that when you are starting up from scratch, like we are, you’re going to go through some growing pains,” Miller said. “I think you’re going to have some dark days. I think as you look up that mountain it’s a long way to the top.
“You’ve got to be able to endure those hard days. Our team has done a pretty good job with enduring that. It’s been a difficult season in terms of the wins and losses. But you don’t get that sense around them in terms of how we work or where we’re at in terms of preparation or communication.
“I think that’s the one real thing I’ve hung our hat on here — the everyday process of doing it the right way, the best we can, and let the chips fall where they may. The long term and the big picture, as you’re building a place and you envision it being one day what you want it to be, I don’t ever necessarily think it’s going to look like that on Day 1.”
Freeman accounted for an even 33% of shot attempts for the Rams while he was on the floor — that made him a top-15 player nationally in terms of usage. URI (8-16, 4-8 Atlantic 10) figures to offer more point guard minutes to Sebastian Thomas and Jalen Carey over the remainder of the season. The Rams host league leader VCU for a 7 p.m. tip on Wednesday.
“In some cases that creates more opportunity,” Miller said. “It creates a different mindset for the player with a lot less concern of, ‘I’m not going in — I am going in.’”
bkoch@providencejournal.com
On Twitter: @BillKoch25
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Brayon Freeman dismissed from RI basketball team by coach Archie Miller
