Vandy’s Freije enjoying the NCAA ride
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Yet Freije wouldn’t change his path a bit.
Vanderbilt’s personable senior forward and career scoring leader has guided the Commodores (23-9) to the NCAA tournament’s final 16 for the first time in 11 years. Sixth-seeded Vanderbilt plays No. 2-seeded Connecticut (29-6) in the Phoenix Regional on Thursday night.
“Kansas never really recruited me,” said Freije, the second-oldest of seven children who grew up in Overland Park, Kan. “Luckily they didn’t, because I ended up at Vanderbilt and I wouldn’t trade the four years I had here for anything.”
And neither would fifth-year Vandy coach Kevin Stallings. He was so interested in signing Freije out of Shawnee Mission West High School he called up good friend Roy Williams, then the Jayhawks coach, to gauge his interest in the versatile scorer with long arms and good jumping ability.
The 6-foot-10, 249-pound Freije moves well in both directions, too.
Calling another coach is not something Stallings does often, but this was Williams, for whom Stallings was an assistant for five years at Kansas.
Williams certainly put in a good word for Stallings for the Vanderbilt job, and both men are part of an impressive coaching tree that starts with Hall of Fame coach Dean Smith — a group of friends that even hangs out in the offseason.
It just so happened, Williams was within days of going to see Freije play, and he then reported back to Stallings that he wasn’t going to recruit Freije.
Williams already had Nick Collison and Wayne Simien at power forward.
“I said, ‘OK, and the only thing I would ask you, Coach, is to promise not to change your mind.’ He promised, and that’s how we got Matt,” Stallings recalled.
“Matt wouldn’t have enjoyed watching Nick play all the time. No offense to him, I love him, but Nick Collison was a lottery pick.”
It’s been a great fit. And Freije and Stallings have formed a special bond.
“I do have a pretty close relationship with Coach Stallings,” Freije said Wednesday after Vanderbilt’s practice. “Whenever I have a problem, or something is weighing on my mind, I know his office is always open and I know I can go in there and talk to him about it. He has never given me bad advice or steered me the wrong way.”
On Sunday, Freije scored 11 of his 31 points over the final 3:28 as the Commodores rallied for a 75-73 second-round victory over North Carolina State in Orlando, Fla. He made four 3-pointers and shot 11-for-11 at the free-throw line.
He is scoring 22 points and grabbing 5.5 points in the tournament after averaging 18.7 points and 5.4 boards during the regular season. The Commodores lost to Florida in the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament and received an at-large bid into the tournament — the first NCAA appearance for the Nashville, Tenn., school since 1997.
“First and foremost, he is a fierce competitor,” Vandy guard Russell Lakey said. “I think that is one of the things that gives him an edge over players who are probably more athletic and probably have more skills than he does. His drive and his will to win are so great that he won’t let himself lose and won’t let his team lose.”
Stallings’ job Thursday will be to make sure Freije gets periodic breaks so he stays fresh. Ideally, Freije will play around 30 minutes.
“He is typically more productive if we have a little control of the minutes he plays,” Stallings said. “If he plays 34, 35 minutes two games in a row, his productivity is going to decline. … He is a very difficult guy to guard, and we need to make sure he gets his fair share of touches.”