Richard Freudenberg

Richard Freudenberg

No. 20 – St. John's Red Storm
Position	Small forward
League	Big East Conference
Personal information
Born	August 31, 1998 Heidelberg, Germany
Nationality	German
Listed height	6 ft 8.5 in (2.04 m)
Listed weight	180 lb (82 kg)
Career information
College	St. John's (2016–present)
Playing career	2015–present
Career history
2015–2016	Bayern Munich
Medals Men's Basketball Representing  Germany Albert Schweitzer Tournament 2016 Germany National Team

Richard Nikolaus Freudenberg (born August 31, 1998 in Heidelberg) is a German College basketball player who currently attends St. John's University and plays for the St. John's Red Storm of the Big East Conference. Standing at 6’8.5’’ (2.04 m), he plays at the small forward position. He last played for Bayern Munich of the German Basketball Bundesliga (BBL).

Playing career

Early years at Bayern Munich

Freudenberg is a product of Bayern Munich, where he came through the youth ranks. Richard began to make noise on the national scene in Germany during the 2012–13 season, when he averaged 21.7 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.3 steals and 1.7 assists in twelve games of the JBBL, the German 16 under Bundesliga.^[1]

In the 2013–14 season, he took his first steps in senior basketball, playing for Bayern Munich’s development squad in the fourth-tier of German basketball (Regionalliga),^[2] while continuing to be a dominant player at the youth level: He played both for Bayern’s under 16 (JBBL) and under 19 (NBBL) squad that season, averaging 20.9 points and 10.3 rebounds in JBBL play, while producing 10.1 points and 3.2 rebounds in the NBBL.^[3]

In 2014–15, Freudenberg was instrumental in leading Bayern’s under 19 team to the German NBBL title.^[4] He turned in averages of 14.8 points and 6.6 rebounds in 17 games that season, while earning NBBL Final Four MVP honors.^[5] He also continued to hone his skills going up against grown men with the club’s development team in Germany's fourth division, helping the Bayern squad to a third-place finish in the Regionalliga South-East, scoring 7.7 points a game in 17 contests.^[6]

He earned a spot on the roster of Bayern’s men’s team for the 2015–16 campaign, making his debut in Germany’s top-flight Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) on October 2, 2015 against Oldenburg.^[7] While practicing with Bayern’s Bundesliga team, Freudenberg primarily kept playing for the club’s men’s development team and the under 19 squad.

In February 2016, he attended the "Basketball Without Borders Global Camp" in Toronto, Canada.^[8]

College

In February 2016, it was announced that Freudenberg has verbally committed to St. John’s University.^[9] He had also considered Vanderbilt, Texas, Gonzaga and Boston College.^[10]

International career

In 2013, he was selected to play for the German under 16 national team,^[11] and attended the under 16 European Championships in Ukraine that year, averaging 6.4 points a game (9 contests).^[12]

He also represented Germany at the 2015 under 18 European Championships in Greece, seeing action in nine contests, while tallying 5.0 points and 2.8 rebounds per outing.^[13]

Freudenberg won gold at the 2016 Albert-Schweitzer-Tournament with the German under 18 national team and was also named to the All-Tournament Team.^[14]

References

1. "Teams der JBBL Südost". NBBL und JBBL (in German). Retrieved 2016-02-28.
2. "BBL GmbH". www.basketball-bund.net. Retrieved 2016-02-28.
3. "Teams der NBBL Südost". NBBL und JBBL (in German). Retrieved 2016-02-28.
4. "NBBL: FC Bayern ist Deutscher Meister". NBBL und JBBL (in German). Retrieved 2016-02-28.
5. "Awards der Nachwuchs Basketball Bundesliga - NBBL". NBBL und JBBL (in German). Retrieved 2016-02-28.
6. "BBL GmbH". www.basketball-bund.net. Retrieved 2016-02-28.
7. "Beko BBL - 22966 Richard FREUDENBERG". www.beko-bbl.de. Retrieved 2016-02-28.
8. "Canadian youngsters shine bright around NBA All Star spotlight in Toronto". FIBA.com. Retrieved 2016-02-28.
9. "Richard Freudenberg commits to St. John's". Scout.com. Retrieved 2016-02-28.
10. Rose, Norman. "Richard Freudenberg wants to be a true student-athlete, & more - from Rumble's interview.". Rumble In The Garden. Retrieved 2016-02-28.
11. Beckmann, Axel. "Sunniva Ferri im DBB-U16-Kader". Basketballverband Rheinland-Pfalz e.V. Retrieved 2016-02-28.
12. "Richard Freudenberg | U16 European Championship Men (2013) | FIBA Europe". www.fibaeurope.com. Retrieved 2016-02-28.
13. "Richard Freudenberg | U18 Europe Championship Men - Division A". u18men.fibaeurope.com. Retrieved 2016-02-28.
14. "AST 2016: Deutschland erstmals Turniersieger! « Deutscher Basketball Bund". www.basketball-bund.de. Retrieved 2016-04-02.