Freeman

Douglas S. Freeman High School
Location: Richmond, VA
Coaches	Sharon Boyles, George Berry, Dave Porter
State Championships	none
National Championships	none
Program Status	Unknown
School Size	Unknown
NAQT Page	link

The Freeman Academic Team was founded in 1967, and it won the WWBT High School Bowl that year. Another title followed in 1970. WWBT would change its tournament name to "It's Academic," and the team would have success in the 1970s. On the WCVE edition of "Battle of the Brains," Freeman would win in 1989 and 1992. According to research by Dave Porter, Freeman also won the 1981 edition of the National Academic Super Bowl, as well as the short-answer (likely Buzzer race) competition in the all-Henrico County CLASSIC several times in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The success would continue into the 1990s, as the Rebels won the second GSAC. They also had two semifinalists in the 1999 Duke Academic Festival.

The team would beat Maggie Walker by 15 points at the 2005 VHSL Central Region championship, becoming the first team aside from Gov to win the tournament. That same year, Dave Porter became the first two-time All-Star on "Battle of the Brains," by then on WTVR.

At Spotswood the next fall, the team would place second, setting the pace for the next two years.

In the 2006-2007 season Freeman was roughly the second-best quizbowl team in Richmond. An especially notable event is a win over Maggie Walker A in 2007 by 95 points. This occurred at the Ocean Lakes DAT I, and was the #1 upset in the country according to the Byko ratings.

The 2007-2008 team finished second in the Colonial District competition, earning the team its third bid to the Central Region tournament in four years. At Regionals, the team went 6-1 to advance to its second state championship appearance. The team finished fifth in its second appearance at State. Late in the season, the team won the first edition of the Maggie Walker HAVOC by beating Collegiate in the final, led by Kevin McCall. As a result, the Rebels qualified for the 2008 NSC.

Later in Kevin McCall's era as the top player, the team also won trophies at the 2010 VCU NAQT Mid-Atlantic Championship, as well as 2008 and 2010 VHSL Regional Runner-up awards.

Freeman is also a unique team by the fact it has a numbered roster and official number shirts. Numbers can also be retired by the team, which is believed to be another quizbowl first.

The Retired Numbers are

1: John Aboud (early 1990s)

2.72: Kevin McCall (2006-2010)

3: Dave Porter (2002-2005)

3.14: Thomas Chappell (2006-2007)

24: Landis William Atkinson IV (2006-2007)

33: Sumahn Das (2002-2005)

42: George Berry (2005-2007)

75: Brandon Rothenberg (2001-2005)

77: David Newsome (2001-2005)