STILLWATER — Gavin Freeman had been in the transfer portal for about two hours when he got a call from Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy.
After a successful second season as a receiver at OU, Gundy saw an opportunity to pursue Freeman and wasted no time in scouting him, and three days later Freeman committed to the Cowboys. It ended.
The era of the transfer portal has allowed players to move more frequently between Bedlam's rivals, but Freeman is now the most prominent player in the sport to leave OU for OSU.
Freeman may be best known as the son of former Sooner tight end Jason Freeman, but his family also has quite a few ties to OSU.
“I think I have more ties to OSU than I do to OU,” Gavin said. Oklahoman.
And that bond goes back a long time.
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Gavin's grandfather, Oklahoma Coaches Association Hall of Famer Ron Freeman, played football at OSU in the late 1960s. Gavin's mother, Dawn, is from Stillwater and an OSU graduate. Her father wrestled at OSU for a short time, and her mother worked at the university for about 40 years.
And the Freemans also have a unique connection to the Gundy family, dating back to the 1985 Class 5A state championship game.
That was when Gundy beat coach Ron Freeman's Muskogee team to take the Midwest City quarterback and win the title.
Gundy's younger brother Cale was a graduate assistant at OU in 1994 when the Sooners were scouting Jason out of Muskogee. And Cale was one of Gavin's biggest supporters when OU took him as a walk-in recruit from Heritage Hall.
“Kail really believed in Gavin's abilities,” Jason said. “He fought for himself.”
Gavin became a recruit for the Sooners, scored a touchdown the moment he touched the ball for the first time, and earned a scholarship after his freshman season. The 5-foot-8, 189-pound slot receiver was used as a pass target, rusher, and punt returner, totaling 354 all-purpose yards.
The Freeman family has remained silent about what led to Gavin's decision to leave OU, but his choice to join the Cowboys was an easy one.
“As soon as I finished my visit, I knew exactly where I wanted to go,” Gavin said. “It would have taken a long time for someone to come in and change my mind.”
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Besides the comfort they felt while on campus for their freshman visit, Gavin and his family also benefited from the understanding of how Mike Gundy and offensive coordinator Casey Dunn have been using slot receivers. , I was drawn to OSU.
“Brennan Pressley caught 101 pitches last year,” Jason said. “Obviously, that offense goes through Ollie Gordon first, but a lot of it goes through Brennan as well. And really, if you go back and look at guys like David Glidden, Find out how they have utilized their positions.
“They're very stable offensively because they have Mike. Yes, they've tweaked some things, but a lot of it has looked the same for a long time.”
Jason, who is currently on staff at Heritage Hall, was just a few years into his high school coaching career when Gundy took over as head coach of the Cowboys in 2005, so Jason knew how Gundy operated. I have been observing from a distance.
“In my opinion, Oklahoma State is a top-10 program,” Jason said. “The amount of consistency and success that Mike has had there for so long is amazing to me. I appreciate the loyalty that Coach Gundy has had in his current players.
“There's one person that's always going to be the same, and that's Mike Gundy.”
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With Pressley in his final season of eligibility, Gundy has already discussed the possibility of redshirting Gavin in the fall and keeping him eligible for two years in 2025-26, when he would have a chance to fill Pressley's role. There is.
The current redshirt rules allow players to participate in four regular season games and a postseason game while retaining their redshirt status. So this means he could be in 5-6 games, or even more in the new 12-team playoffs.
“Gandy was very transparent from the beginning, saying, 'Listen, there's no reason to waste a year if you don't have to,'” Jason said. “In my opinion, the NCAA isn’t doing a lot of things right, but they are doing something right with the redshirt rule.
“Gavin will be able to play six or seven games, which will be great because he'll be able to learn the offense and learn from Brennan. As a player, it's his second year where he starts to feel like he can play really fast. Until then, you're not very comfortable offensively. In your first year, you're thinking too much and wondering what to do, so you don't reach your full potential.”
Gavin will report to campus the first week of June with the goal of jumping into strength coach Rob Glass' offseason program.
“This is the perfect time to get bigger, faster and stronger,” Gavin said. “And you have a chance to build connections with them. So I'm really looking forward to getting to know everyone there and learning the ropes.”
