‘I was prepared for that moment’: Inside WSU WR Tony Freeman’s winding path to becoming the Cougs’ top wideout

PULLMAN – Tony Freeman could sense the anticipation in his teammates’ eyes, the screams of excitement they were about to unleash. He just had to keep them waiting for another minute, another moment before his life changed forever.

Freeman and 40 of his teammates were gathered around a circular table in the cafeteria at the College of San Mateo, where he played wide receiver in the 2023 season, and he had just gotten the phone call he was expecting. On the other end was Rob Schlaeger, Washington State’s general manager that season, who had been watching Freeman’s junior college tape. Freeman had played nearly 10 games, enough time to catch the attention of nearby college coaches, and the fruits of his labor were beginning to show.

So one sunny afternoon in November 2023, after Freeman and his teammates had just finished up a special teams meeting, they found themselves in the cafeteria. They all settled down around a table. They watched with bated breath as Freeman answered the phone. Who was it?

“Washington State,” Freeman said quietly.

Freeman’s teammates could barely keep it together. They started talking, screaming, laughing. But they couldn’t go crazy yet. What if the Cougars were just checking in on Freeman, trying to keep him on the hook?

That’s about when Freeman put the phone on speaker, knowing what was likely about to happen. With his phone volume turned up, Freeman’s teammates heard Schlaeger compliment Freeman on the season he was having, telling him he had been watching his game tape. Then came the bomb.

Schlaeger told Freeman he’d like to offer him a scholarship at WSU.

The 40 some players went ballistic. They screamed and shouted and hollered and whooped, shaking Freeman by the shoulders, congratulating him on the opportunity. Freeman beamed. He had never imagined himself starting his career at a junior college. As he turned in one scintillating game after another, telling himself “this is my last shot at this,” he had just found the route he might take out of there.

About a month later, Freeman made his way to Pullman for his official visit. A few days after that, he committed to the Cougars and signed with their program, joining their class of 2024. A year later, after finding a niche on WSU’s special teams unit as a primary punt returner, he is finally enjoying the kind of role he always envisioned for himself: one of the Cougs’ top options at wideout, using his blazing speed to jet into secondaries and render his 5-foot-8 size meaningless, making defensive backs of all levels wonder how on earth he just did that.

“I just feel like the offensive staff has just been doing a really good job of just putting me in different places,” Freeman said, “and just utilizing me the way I see myself being utilized. So they’ve been doing a great job at that.”

Through six games in his second season at WSU, Freeman is putting up the best numbers of his career. He has 30 catches for 304 yards and one touchdown, which came in the Cougars’ close loss to top-five Ole Miss last weekend, keeping his group afloat in crunch time. His receptions are the most among Cougar receivers, as are his 37 targets, becoming a key cog in WSU’s offensive machine.

The story of Freeman’s breakout season is in the numbers. He has at least two receptions in each game this season: Seven against Idaho, six against San Diego State, three against North Texas, two against Washington, three against Colorado State and a career-high nine against Ole Miss, which he used to rack up 90 receiving yards. He’s also returned six punts for 67 yards, which includes a 42-yard return a few weeks ago in a win over the Rams.

He’s become the leading receiver at WSU, which has needed every drop of his production. Save for a critical drop against Ole Miss, which likely cost the Cougars a chance at points on that drive, Freeman has become a reliable receiver. A guy who can make defenders miss. Speedy and elusive. He forced four missed tackles on the Rebels, who looked a step slow.

“Just seizing the moment and being prepared,” Freeman said. “It was just a situation where opportunity met preparation. I was prepared for that moment, and it was on the big stage, and I wanted to go perform well.”

Get to know Freeman’s background and you begin to understand why the moment meant so much to him.

***

Freeman trudged into the locker room at De Anza High School, where he played his senior season in Richmond, California, a little uneasy about what he might find. Some five weeks had passed in the season, and Freeman still wasn’t cleared to play by district administrators, who weren’t keen on Freeman transferring to a rival school and joining what they viewed as a super team.

But after one practice on a cold, rainy day in the Bay Area, one of Freeman’s coaches told him to head into the locker room and check his phone. After weeks of deliberation and delays, school district brass had come to a decision on Freeman’s eligibility for the rest of the season, and the email was in his inbox.

Freeman opened up his bag, saw the notification and clicked on it. In the email was a bright red circle with a few words inside: Denied for the 2022-23 season.

“I was crushed hearing that,” Freeman said.

Ahead of the school year, Freeman had transferred from Pinole Valley to De Anza, which are rivals. The latter was closer to his sister’s workplace. He was joining several friends at De Anza, which figured to have an electric offense with Freeman, who had just enjoyed what he called a “crazy” junior year.

He had no senior year at all.

“She did everything she could basically to not let me play my senior year,” Freeman said, referring to an athletic director. “It was pretty crazy.”

“I was crying, a lot of emotions,” Freeman said. “I just really couldn’t understand, like, why would somebody go out of their way to do something like that to a kid that’s trying to get himself out of an environment that’s not really the best environment for himself? So that was just really the biggest thing for me, but I had a great support system.”

With the rest of his senior year shuttered, Freeman’s recruiting interest all but dried up. “I was worried about it,” he said. “It kinda broke me.” He took a visit to FCS Southern Utah, which was only interested in offering him a partial scholarship.

“I knew I was better than a partial,” Freeman said, “but obviously they weren’t gonna give me a full ride because I didn’t play my senior year, which is understandable. So I kinda just held off on that and just took a chance on myself at JUCO.”

Not long after he started playing at the College of San Mateo, located about 50 miles south of Richmond, Freeman felt the doubt start to hit him. Many of his teammates growing up landed at FBS schools. One of his closer friends, cornerback Warren Smith, chose to go to WSU. How did Freeman end up here, he wondered.

But he was quick to turn his approach around. It paid off to the tune of 40 receptions for 660 yards and seven touchdowns, helping San Mateo go 11-2 on the year. By season’s end, he had collected some eight offers, including San Jose State, Fresno State, Missouri State, Louisiana Tech and others.

But he chose WSU for the chance to be a part of the Cougars’ frenetic offense. He was even teammates for a year with Smith, who has since transferred to Sacramento State. Last winter, when former head coach Jake Dickert departed and took many assistants with him, Freeman did think about entering the transfer portal and taking his talents elsewhere, he said. But after chatting with the people he trusts most, he opted to stay in Pullman.

He is reaping the rewards now. Last week, he showed what he could do against the SEC’s best team. This week, he gets a chance to do the same against Virginia, which is ranked No. 18 nationally. Can Freeman produce the way he has all season? If so, his teammates back home might be screaming again, watching their old JUCO receiver do his thing at one of the sport’s highest levels.

“I always knew I could do it,” Freeman said. “I just needed a true opportunity, and the staff to believe in me and give me a fair shot. I got that, and I am here where I am now.”