By Paul Perillo

Seldom can Northeastern claim a potential world-class athlete. Yet the men's track team may be in just that position.

Say hello to Warwick, Rhode Island, native John Freeman, the reigning national high-school hammer champion. After Freeman earned his title in June, competing for Bishop Hendricken High School, he received offers from virtually every well-known track school in the nation. When he narrowed his choices down to three—Oregon, Virginia, and Northeastern—even die-hard Huskies were a little surprised.

Behind the scenes, though, head coach Sherman Hart had an ace up his sleeve: Joe Donahue, BA'63, GB'87, a legendary throwing coach at NU from 1963 to 1999, who recently returned to campus at Hart's urging. For Freeman, that gave NU the ultimate edge.

"Joe coached my high school coach [Bill Johnston, BB'77] and another coach of mine [Kevin Barrett]," Freeman explains. "So what he was doing at Northeastern coincided with what I was being taught because, in reality, Joe had taught my coaches. I knew I loved Boston and wanted to go to school here, and, in talking to Joe, I knew I really liked him."

Donahue, a high-school guidance counselor by trade, has enjoyed a storied past on Huntington Avenue. He coached Johnston, a four-time All-American inducted into the NU Hall of Fame in 2004. He also worked with Hall of Famer Boris Djerassi, LA'75, who won the national hammer title in 1975, and remains the lone NCAA national champion in NU's history.

Freeman could surpass them all before he's through, Donahue believes. And this is before the youngster even attempts his first collegiate throw.

"Every time I look at John's throwing, I have to reevaluate how far he can go," Donahue declares. "I can say this: The school record set by a great NCAA champion, Boris Djerassi, will be in jeopardy from the moment John wears red and black. His future is unlimited."

But all the accomplishments will have to wait a year. Although Freeman is a healthy 6-foot-5, 250-plus pounds, he is just seventeen years old. Rather than thrust him into the fire immediately, his coaches have decided to red-shirt him for the 2005–2006 season, giving him more time to develop what they say is an already brilliant technique.

"I have no doubt that he could succeed right away," Donahue says, "but we have some great throwers in Derek Anderson and Zara Northover, and I don't want to take anything away from either of those gifted individuals. They deserve the spotlight for themselves.

"Also, Northeastern is a very hard school and requires a lot of work," he says. "This way, John can get acclimated to school, which is really what he's here for, and we can work with him at a low level of intensity. Then he can be ready to come back for four straight years."

Freeman, who agrees with the coaches' decision, looks forward to building on a high school career that was, to say the least, formidable. The national title that capped it all off was earned with a best throw of 210 feet 10.

Early success runs in the family. Older brothers Jacob (now twenty-four) and Michael (twenty-one) were national high-school champions who went on to successful college careers at Manhattan College. In fact, Jacob still holds the national high-school record for longest hammer throw (253 feet 3).

Over the summer, John took part in the Pan Am Junior Games, finishing second in the nineteen-and-under competition among the Americans, third overall. He's keeping his sights trained on the one American who bested him, UCLA's Boldizsar Kocsor.

"I think he'll be my big rival for the next few years," Freeman says. "He's a great guy; it's nothing personal. But I just want to beat him."

Having an NU athlete so focused on a rival from UCLA is noteworthy in and of itself, some might say. But Donahue stresses the Huskies no longer limit themselves to dreaming locally.

"I tell our kids to stop thinking about the kids across the street—think about the kids across the country," he says. "We're not trying to beat BU and BC. We're going after the big southern schools like Tennessee, and powers like UCLA and Oregon."

Freeman will be a big part of that national attack, Donahue believes. "John has a rare ability for someone so young," he says. "Throwing is very technique-oriented, and he has excellent technique.

"John has the potential to be one of the great throwers in the world. When he opens up next year as a freshman, it's going to be extraordinary."

Barea Drops NBA Bid, Returns for Final Year

At some point or another last season, basketball coach Ron Everhart believes, representatives from every NBA team made their way to Cabot Gym to watch the Huskies play. Or, more specifically, to watch Jose Juan Barea play.

Because the junior point guard was known to be interested in declaring for the NBA draft, the scouts wanted to

see the dynamic twenty-one-year-old in person. Most evenings, he didn't disappoint. The 5-foot-11, 170-pound native of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, averaged

22.2 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 7.3 assists per game last year, earning him a spot on the America East All-Conference first team for the second straight year.

More important, he often willed the Huskies to victory, leading Northeastern to a 21-10 record and its first appearance in the title game in a decade.

But Barea, who also drew NBA speculation after his sophomore year, decided not to leave after all. He withdrew his name from draft consideration, which NCAA rules allow underclassmen to do, provided they haven't hired an agent, and made his way back to NU for a fourth and final season.

"I really just wanted to test the waters and see what was out there," Barea says now. "I had a knee injury, anyway, and couldn't do any of the tryouts I had set up. But, either way, unless someone was going to promise me that I was going to be a first-round pick, I was planning on returning all along."

The decision sits just fine with Everhart, who's thrilled to have his squad leader back as the Huskies head into the rough uncharted waters of the Colonial Athletic Association. He says the scouts' consensus is that Barea helped himself by staying in school, and by competing well at the Under-Twenty-One World Championships in Argentina over the summer.

"He's a very talented player," Everhart says. "The people I've talked to believe he has a definite future. But he had the knee tendinitis that prevented him from competing in the Chicago predraft camp, so that made the decision very easy for him."

At last year's America East Tournament, Barea matched Reggie Lewis's school record with 41 points in a quarterfinal win over Stony Brook, and then nearly notched a triple double in the semifinal win over Maine, missing by just a pair of rebounds. But less than a minute into the final game against Vermont, he got involved in an altercation while going after a loose ball. Suspended by the school for unnecessary roughness, Barea missed his team's NIT game against Memphis.

"He's a great competitor, but sometimes he can get too emotional," Everhart says. "His big challenge will be to channel that emotion. He's already improved a great deal since his freshman year."

If Barea's pro aspirations will wait a bit, Husky hopes won't have to. Barea is returning to a solid team. Shawn James, last year's freshman phenom; savvy veterans Bennet Davis, Bobby Kelly, and Aaron Davis; and a strong recruiting class round out the roster. Not to mention the new assistant coach with the notable name: Richard Pitino, son of Louisville coach Rick Pitino.

"I'm really excited to be back," says Barea. "This is by far the best team we've had in my four seasons. Except for [guard] Marcus Barnes, we have almost everybody returning."

The entry into a new league only adds to the anticipation, Barea says. "I'm excited to play in some new places against tougher teams. This year should be our best."