NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State head men's basketball coach Dan Muller has announced the signing of former Tennessee State guard Mark Freeman to begin his Redbird career in the 2021-22 basketball season. He will have three years of eligibility to use with the Redbirds.
"We're so excited to add Mark to our team," said Muller. "He is a high-level guard who will come in right away and give us experience, toughness, quickness, and leadership. He played for a terrific coach – Penny Collins – at Tennessee State. I could not be more excited to be a big part of Mark's journey in life, both on and off the court."
In 21 games last season, the Memphis, Tennessee, native averaged 17.1 points and 4.6 assists per game for Tennessee State en route to being named to the All-Ohio Valley Conference second team. He pulled down 4.1 rebounds per game, while grabbing 2.0 steals per contest and converting on 81.7 percent of his free throw tries. He led the OVC in free throw percentage, and was third in scoring and steals, and fifth in assists
During his sophomore season, the 5-10 guard had 17 games in double-figures, and seven games of 20+ points. He recorded a career-high scoring output in each of his last two games, scoring 29 against Jacksonville State and 30 against Morehead State. Over his final four games, he averaged 23.8 points and 8.5 assists, while converting on 27-of-30 (90.0%) from the charity stripe.
As a freshman, he played in 31 games with 16 starts, averaging 6.5 points while dishing out a team-best 131 assists.
He was a two-time Class AAA TSWA (Tennessee Sports Writers Association) All-State honoree and was a finalist for the 2018 Class AAA Mr. Basketball Award. He was rated as a three-star recruit by ESPN.com and 247sports.com. As a senior, he averaged 22 points and eight assists for Southwind High School, where he led the Jaguars to a 29-2 record as the team advanced to the Region 8 Semifinals.
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