Daniel Freitag shoots a free throw for Breck. Photo: Jenni Lilledahl.
After knee surgery, future UW floor general Daniel Freitag says he’s focused on becoming a more well-rounded player – starting with his jump shot.
By Nathan Denzin, BADGER STRIPES
Four-star recruit Daniel Freitag has dropped in the recruiting rankings over the past year – but he isn’t worried about it.
In an interview with Badger Stripes, the point guard said that fall came because he played through a torn meniscus in his knee at the end of last season and through AAU ball. The point guard has sunk from the 39th best prospect in the country when Greg Gard and the Badgers earned a commitment according to Rivals, to 113th over the past year.
“The drop in rankings is hilarious to me. I know ball and I know where I’m at,” Freitag said. “The experts are just doing their jobs, but they don’t know everything about my situation like I do. [Coach Gard] knows how good I am.”
He had surgery on the knee in the offseason, but picked up a nagging ankle injury early in the season that had been hampering him.
“Just in the last week or two I feel a lot better, and I think that’s showing up on the court,” Freitag said.
In his last two of his last three games he’s dropped 33 and 37 points, helping pull his points per-game up past 20.
But Freitag said even if his scoring doesn’t reach the same level it did last year, it’s because he’s able to focus on being a point guard with Breck, a prep school in Golden Valley, a suburb of Minneapolis.
“At my old school I had to play a lot more center because I was one of the biggest guys, but now [with Breck] I can really play point guard,” he said. “There the scoring load was completely on my shoulders, but here we have at least 7 guys who are all really solid.”
Freitag played for Jefferson High School in Bloomington in his first three seasons, setting the scoring record there. He transferred to Breck for his senior season.
He feels that the move has helped him develop into a more complete player.
“The biggest difference is I’m not forcing any bad shots this year when I had to last year,” Freitag continued. “So my scoring is down a little but I’m not taking as many bad shots.”
One aspect of his game where he’s trying to build consistency: his jumper.
“From my understanding, my jump shot is what’s going to get me on the floor,” Freitag said of his future career with the Wisconsin Badgers. “But if it isn’t consistent, it’s also what is going to get me pulled. I feel like this year I’ve gotten much more consistent.”
Breck sits undefeated after 12 games and is ranked #1 in their class of 2A in Minnesota.
Badger Stripes is a sports news organization that provides in-depth coverage of Wisconsin athletics. Follow us on Facebook.
