At 6-1, Lakisha (Kiki) Freeman has been a towering inside presence for Arthur Hill High School in Saginaw, Mich. Next season, she'll take her talents to Purdue.

As a junior, Freeman averaged 18.2 points, 8.6 rebounds, 3.5 steals and 2.5 blocked shots per game as she led Arthur Hill to the district finals and an 18-5 record.

Last spring, she gave a verbal commitment to attend Purdue. "I love the coaches," Freeman said at the time. "Everyone at Purdue is friendly, from the coaches to the players to the administration. They're great people."

"Her stronger points are her athletic ability and her mid-range game," Arthur Hill head coach Vonnie Kilmer told the West Lafayette Journal and Courier last spring. "I think it's a steal for Purdue because she's a talented kid. She's a finesse player and plays pretty solid defense."

Darren Neil, Freeman's AAU coach, lauded Freeman's unselfish nature. "She passes up about 15 shots a game because that's the way she plays," Neil said in the Journal and Courier. "She can run the floor with the best of them."

Last summer Freeman participated in the Nike All-America Camp in summer 2003, where she made an impression on hoops guru Bob Richards of OldGoldFreePress.com. "She is always around the ball on offense and defense," he wrote. "She has a defensively solid all-around game, but impressed me guarding forwards driving into the paint. She can stay on your hip and blocks quite a few shots by smothering the shot, not swatting at it. Doesn't hesitate on offense and knows what to do with the ball when she gets it."

Fellow OldGoldFreePress writer Capri Small noted that Freeman "can play a physical game but has a surprisingly soft touch around the basket," and called her "a six-foot player who can legitimately drive the lane and pass like a guard."

After Freeman signed her Letter of Intent to attend Purdue, Head Coach Kristy Currie was finally permitted to officially comment on her recruit. "Kiki comes from a tradition-rich high school program at Arthur Hill," Curry said. "She brings a combination of speed and athleticism that fits very well into our system. We feel she has tremendous potential and that she can be a presence for us defensively."

After she was named finalist for Michigan's Miss Basketball title, Freeman answered some questions for the Detroit Free Press. She cited Tracy McGrady as a her favorite athlete, noted her biggest area of improvement was in her aggressiveness, and vowed that when her basketball career is finished she will "be a business accountant."

Detroit Free Press writer Mick McCabe noted that Freeman's "numbers could be better, but she plays center on a very balanced team and is extremely unselfish." He also said that "no other center in the state can fill a lane on the fast break like Freeman, who has a finesse game that is difficult to stop. She probably will be a small forward in college."

Article written by Gball Associate Editor Jim Catalano.

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