How to watch a former State College boys basketball star in the NIT
The National Invitation Tournament is set to tip off at 7 p.m. on Tuesday and State College will be represented.
Former Little Lions basketball star Drew Friberg and his No. 6 seed Princeton squad are set to take on the third-seeded VCU Rams. Friberg, a senior, is the team’s fifth-leading scorer with 9.5 points per game and the fourth-leading rebounder with 3.5 per game.
“It means the world to me,” Friberg said. “Not having a season last year makes me appreciate the season even more this year. Although we came up short with our goal of making the NCAA Tournament, I still get the opportunity to go out on the court and play one last time with some of my best friends and teammates.”
Friberg was named an Academic All-Ivy League selection. He is second in three-pointers per game with 2.6 and is 10th all-time in made 3-point shots in a season at Princeton with 70, per Princeton. He has made a total of 135 3-point shots in his career, according to College Basketball Reference.
He’s enjoyed many moments throughout his career, despite early struggles. Friberg averaged two points a game in his freshman season — playing 6.9 minutes a game and understood that he needed to improve. As a sophomore, he improved to 8.3 points per game in 25.9 minutes per game.
“I’ve really enjoyed my career at Princeton,” Friberg said. “There’s been a lot of ups and downs and I really feel like I was challenged as a player. Freshman year was quite the wake up call, but I think I was able to just learn how to focus on the things I could control and just do whatever it was that the team needed me to do. This year was the culmination of that hard work and I’m thankful that I had this opportunity.”
The former Little Lion scored 1,610 points in his high school career and is the third-leading scorer in State College history, totaling 16.8 points per game, shooting 46% from the field and 34% from 3-point range. He compiled 519 rebounds (5.4 per game), dished out 203 assists (2.1), had 157 steals (1.6) and 63 blocks (0.7), per MaxPreps.
How to watch
Who: No. 6 Princeton (23-6) at No. 3 VCU (21-9)
When: Tuesday, March 15 at 7 p.m. | Where: Stuart C. Siegel Center (Richmond, Va.)
TV: ESPNU/ESPN+
Online radio stream: GoPrincetonTigers.com
This story was originally published March 15, 2022 at 10:29 AM.
