UCLA Basketball: Corona Native Becomes First 2024 Bruins Commit
Your UCLA Bruins have just nabbed their first commit from among the class of 2024!
Eric Freeny, a 6'3" shooting guard out of Corona Centennial High School, will be donning the blue and gold following his official visit to campus on June 20th, per Dushawn London of 247Sports. UNLV was the other primary contender for the swingman's services.
Bruins assistant coach Rod Palmer helped land the plane when it came to Freeny's recruitment, London notes.
“I chose UCLA because I feel like it’s a program I fit right into,” Freeny told London. “Coach (Mick) Cronin and my coach from Corona Centennial are really alike and I feel like my personality really fits in with the program.”
“UCLA is a program that has straight dogs, dudes who play with chips on their shoulders, shoot the ball and play defense. It’s a system, that’s why they’re so good and why I chose them. At my high school my coach runs a system and I’m a system player. I’m not into the flashy stuff, I just play fundamental basketball and make winning plays.”
During his visit, Bruins coaches weighed in on player comps for the three-star recruit, currently considered by 247Sports to be the No. 108 prospect in the country and the No. 11 high school hooper in the state.
“They compared me to [current Utah Jazz two-way player] Johnny Juzang,” Freeny said. “He can shoot the ball, and plays a lot off of two feet like me. They even compared me a little to [new Miami Heat small forward] Jamie (Jaquez) by the way he scores off two feet, gets to his own shot, and is always balanced.”
All Bruins' own Doug McKain considers Freeny likely to see his status upgraded to four-star recruit level soon enough.
