If everyone would have just kept repeatingWhen the transistor opens, the inductance will attempt to keep the current moving in the same direction (from top to bottom of the inductor).
This causes the voltage to drop at the transistor inductor interface until the voltage goes about 0.7V negative, which forward biases the diode.
\( \small V_{emf}=-L\frac{di}{dt}\)
It probably would have sunk in faster (after I did some research to convince myself it was believable). Thanks for the help.