On June 15, Greg Gard was finally able to initiate contact with incoming juniors from the 2024 recruiting class, per NCAA recruiting regulations.
This date is significant for Coach Gard, who has had a knack for identifying talent and working to maintain a close relationship with players before more prominent programs enter their recruitment.
Once contact became permissible, UW wasted little time reaching out to 2024 point guard Daniel Freitag out of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
As a sophomore, he averaged 26.7 ppg (9th in the state) while leading his team to a conference title and winning the conference Player of the Year.
“June 15th consisted of me hearing from Minnesota & Baylor at midnight. Then Iowa, Wisconsin, Iowa State, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, and Longwood,” Freitag told BadgersWire.
Wisconsin was the first Power 5 program to offer 2024-point guard Daniel Freitag a scholarship after their advanced camp in June 2021. Since then, the Minnesota native has done nothing but make Coach Gard look good for his initial evaluation.
The fast-rising PG prospect has seen his recruitment take off, earning offers from Baylor, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Iowa State.
“Baylor has been contacting me the most often out of all the universities, for sure.” Freitag will be visiting Baylor University from August 5-6.
“Communication has been pretty calm with Wisconsin; I think they take the approach of letting me enjoy my days without being in my face. When they do call, I feel like it is very enjoyable. My relationship with Coach Gard is a good balance of close while being decently distant,” Freitag said.
Freitag, a Bloomington, Minnesota native, has everything you could want from a PG prospect. Good size, physicality, well-above-average athleticism, playmaking ability, toughness, plays above the rim, and can shoot from beyond the arc. The kid loves to compete.
“He [Coach Gard] sees me making an impact for the team immediately and believes I can lead the team at the guard position. He seems to have a lot of trust in me, and I like that.”
Coach Krabbenhoft is the lead recruiter for the 6-foot-3, 175-pound PGs services. “The coaching staff told me to watch how they utilize Chucky and his role for the team. So I do know they want me at the point guard – although I have hopes of myself having Johnny Davis-like impact, so I like to give him a close eye when he’s out there,” Freitag said in a previous interview with BadgersWire.
Freitag has shown the ability to win games as either a scoring threat or a facilitator. I’m confident that the Minnesota native will eventually add a slew of offers from the top programs in the country before his recruitment is closed.
Right now, Freitag is my favorite Wisconsin Badgers offer, and I firmly believe he’ll be a star wherever he winds up.
Wisconsin will be up against some elite programs for his services, but the early relationship they’ve established with the Jefferson Senior High School standout certainly doesn’t hurt their chances of staying in the mix.
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