'He’s got those things we can’t coach': Daniel Freitag weighs UW football, basketball offers

MADISON – Greg Gard was on the sideline at Camp Randall Stadium for spring football practice Saturday morning and it wasn’t because he wanted to see how the quarterbacks were developing.

The Wisconsin men's basketball coach was on hand to re-connect with perhaps the most unique prospect on the program’s wish list of 2024 recruits.

Daniel Freitag is a 6-foot-2 point guard from Bloomington (Minn.) Jefferson High School with the explosiveness and skill to make him one of the nation’s top point guards.

But he is also a 175-pound receiver/defensive back with the skill to net four Division I offers, including one from Luke Fickell.

Yes, the Badgers men’s basketball and football teams are in friendly competition for a potentially elite-level recruit who appears to be in a win-win situation.

“I think whatever he decides to do he’s going to have some success at,” Jefferson basketball coach Jeff Evens said.

That’s Freitag in a nutshell. The coaches who have guided him through his high school career believe there is nothing the rising senior can’t accomplish. So far nothing has happened to prove them wrong.

He holds eight Division I offers in basketball and four Division I offers in football. He is considered a consensus four-star recruit in both sports and a high-character individual who exudes a maturity beyond his years.

“I’ve known Daniel for a while, so for me he seems older than he is,” Jefferson football coach Tim Carlson said. “I have to keep reminding myself that he is just a junior in high school because you see him on TV and you talk to him and he does seem older than he is.”’

Daniel Freitag: A point guard with the ability to score

While it is unclear what sport Freitag will focus on in college, it’s fair to say he is a more accomplished basketball player. He averaged about 28 points, 9½ rebounds and 4½ assists this past season for Jefferson and passed Cole Aldrich, the former Kansas Jayhawk, as the school’s all-time leading scorer.

He is ranked 60^th in his class by Rivals and No. 93 by 247sports.

“We had Cole Aldrich, who played at Kansas and won a national title,’ Jefferson coach Jeff Evens said. “He was 7-0 and a freak of nature body-wise. Dan doesn’t have the size Cole had, but what Dan makes up for is his drive and determination to keep on improving.

“I think he’s never satisfied with where he is at. He does all the little things like the weights. He watches his diet and with rest and recovery he just does all the necessary things to give himself the best chance to become the best basketball player he can be.”

Freitag has basketball offers from Baylor, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas State, Minnesota and Nebraska in addition to UW, according to 247sports. his lists of offers, according to Rivals, also includes Notre Dame and Virginia.

He combines the ability to be a floor general with reliable three-point shooter and the ability to play through contact, something his football background prepared him for.

“We’ve always encouraged our basketball kids to play football for that very reason," Evens said, "but Dan is solid enough that he can finish even if he gets bumped off his drive a little bit.”

Rivals and 247sports lists Freitag's football offer list as UW, Kansas State, Minnesota and Notre Dame.

“I know Kansas State, Kansas and the Gophers were all looking for him as a receiver where Notre Dame was looking to have him play safety,” Carlson said. “They’re open. If you want to try receiver, try receiver, but they’d like to see him try safety, which he’d be really good at that, too.”

A two-way threat on the football field

In comparison to basketball, Freitag’s flower as a football player blossomed late.

He broke his collarbone during the first game of his sophomore season and was done for the year. This past season he played receiver, wildcat quarterback and safety. He completed four of nine passes for 65 yards and two touchdowns, rushed for 505 yards and five touchdowns in 54 carries, a 9.4-yard average, and caught 37 passes for 501 yards, a 13.5-yard average, with five touchdowns. He also made 15 tackles, four interceptions and four pass break ups.

In addition to praising his athleticism, Carlson applauded Freitag’s competitive drive.

“He wants to win. He wants to be better,” Carlson said. “He’s always asking questions on how he can get better … (if) Daniel had a bad shooting night, he’s in our gym at 6:45 the next morning because he wants to work on his jump shot.”

Last week Freitag announced on Twitter that he will complete his high school basketball career at Southern California Academy in Northridge, Calif. The academy doesn’t offer a football program, though that probably won’t dampen interest in Freitag from the Badgers or anyone else.

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“He’s freaky athletic. If you watch him play much of both sports, you’ll see that,” Carlson said. “He’s just got great athleticism, but then a knowledge of the game that goes with that. I kind of describe it as he has the things you don’t coach. Some of these kids who are the D-I kids, they have this natural ability to know the game that goes with their athleticism and that is who Daniel is. He’s got those things we can’t coach”.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Daniel Freitag has offers from Wisconsin football, basketball