How Gavin Freeman Emerged as OSU’s Go-To Receiver

STILLWATER — Gavin Freeman said going out to Lubbock this past weekend was a bit of a personal game for him.

His only Power Conference offer coming out of Heritage Hall in Oklahoma City was Texas Tech, but Freeman committed to the Red Raiders when Matt Wells was the coach. Things changed when Joey McGuire took over.

“It’s definitely a more personal game for me because I was committed and the head coach, he didn’t want me once the new head coach got hired,” Freeman said. “For sure there’s a chip on my shoulder, but I wanted to go and play for my teammates.”

The Cowboys were shut out in Lubbock, but Freeman led the Cowboys with six catches for 47 yards.

In his second year at Oklahoma State after redshirting in 2024, Freeman has been the Cowboys’ most consistent weapon in the passing game, as he leads OSU in receptions (29), receiving yards (280) and receiving touchdowns (2).

The Cowboys’ receiver room went through an overhaul this offseason with Brennan Presley and Rashod Owens graduating while De’Zhaun Stribling transferred to Ole Miss. On top of that, Talyn Shettron suffered an offseason injury that has seen him miss every game to this point, and then Da’Wain Lofton has been on the injury report just about all season after playing in the season opener. Those five plus Ollie Gordon, who is now in the NFL, represented OSU’s top six players in terms of receiving yards last season.

OSU hit the portal hard in the position group, bringing in six players from the portal, but the 5-foot-8 Freeman has still emerged as the group’s most consistent pass catcher.

“Got to know a lot about (Freeman) when I got here,” OSU interim coach Doug Meacham said. “A super tough kid. He has one speed. He’s fearless. He has good ball skills. Yeah, you’d like him to be 6-2 or whatever. He’s kinda what you’d consider a slot to be. That twitchy, punt returner guy that can catch low balls and turn them into big balls.

“I didn’t know a ton about him, but just through the course of practicing with him, you got a sense for how tough he was and how hard he practices. Our GPS, he’s on the leaderboard of yardage and all that stuff. He’s in the red almost every day just because of how he practices. Glad he’s here. He’s a good player.”

After his commitment to Tech fell through, Freeman elected to walk on at Oklahoma, where his father played.

The first time he touched the ball as a Sooner, Freeman ran 46 yards to the end zone. After feeling like he wasn’t wanted in Lubbock, Freeman played in all 13 of OU’s games as a true freshman. He played in all 26 of the Sooners’ games in 2022 and 2023, catching 22 passes for 141 yards and a touchdown. He ran 12 times for 91 yards and a touchdown. And he also had 122 punt return yards and another touchdown.

Upon transferring to OSU, Freeman played in the first four games of the Cowboys’ 2024 season before redshirting with Presley still manning the Cowboys’ slot role. In those four games, Freeman made six catches for 45 yards, had two punt returns for 31 yards and eight kick returns for 163 yards.

That 2024 redshirt means Freeman is only a redshirt junior this season, meaning he could return to the Cowboys in 2026. But Freeman hasn’t checked out on this season, with OSU still having four games to play.

“I hope to just keep competing, keep going, keep progressing every week, even if it’s just one step at a time,” Freeman said. “I want to see us start to go crazy these last four games. Just keep going, really.”