INSTANT IMPACT: Newcomer emerges as another weapon for Knights

PALMER — During the summer months leading into the school year, Colony head coach Tom Berg was feeling pretty good about what he was going to have to work with during the 2017-18 season.

His top player from a year ago, junior Sullivan Menard, was set to return. Key seniors, such as Parker Kizer and Jarrett Villastrigo, were back. There were intriguing underclassmen, such as Colton Spencer and Wyatt Baker. Berg also looked forward to an influx of young talent, such as freshmen Patrick McMahon and Jeremiah Hersrud.

But Berg and the Knights also received an unexpected surprise.

Senior Will Freeman.

After making the move from Texas to Alaska with his family during the offseason, Freeman has made an immediate impact with the Knights. Freeman quickly meshed with Colony’s returning talent, and helped the Knights win a pair of tournaments — the Doc Larson Roundball Classic at Wasilla and the Joe T. Classic at Lathrop — during the first month of the season. Freeman was also named tournament MVP after both events.

And it all started with an email during the summer.

“End of July I got an email from his parents. They were moving to Palmer and Will is going to go to Colony,” Berg said early in the season. “A lot of coaches get those emails. But to be perfectly honest, you really don’t know.”

But it didn’t take long for Berg and the Knights to see that Freeman is a valuable addition to the program. And it didn’t take long for opponents to figure out that an already deep Colony squad has another weapon.

Freeman scored a game-high 17 points during his Colony debut, a 66-46 victory over East Anchorage during the first day of the Doc Larson Roundball Classic in December. He shot 7 of 10 from the field, and pulled down a half-dozen rebounds. Two days later, Freeman scored a game-high 26 in a 59-49 win over rival Wasilla in the Doc Larson championship game. Freeman hit 5 of 6 attempts from beyond the arc.

“Obviously we knew pretty early on that he could play,” Berg said. “Will’s a good basketball player, a better kid.”

Last season, Freeman played varsity basketball for Midway High School, a Class 6A program in Waco, Texas.

“(The players) are definitely a lot longer, a lot taller,” Freeman said of the athletes playing 6A basketball in Texas. “But there’s good competition up here too.”

After helping Colony score a lopsided win over Kodiak Friday night, Freeman said he wasn’t quite sure what to expect after making the move from the Lone Star State to the Last Frontier.

“I was just kind of going to roll with it. So far, it’s working out,” Freeman said. “I like my team.”

Freeman said the transition to a new program in a new state was fairly easy.

“I had a lot of confidence in myself,” Freeman said. “My teammates brought me in.”

Freeman said he’s enjoyed the competition so far.

“The rivalries are crazy. That’s probably the biggest thing to stand out to me,” Freeman said.

Freeman will get a heavy dose of the Valley rivalries, with a combined four scheduled games against Wasilla and Palmer within the next two months.

“Those are going to be fun,” Freeman said.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.