Kevin Freeman Returns To Storrs
The Story: Kevin Freeman will return to UConn as an assistant men’s basketball coach, according to multiple reports, and take over for Kenya Hunter, who left last week to be the associate head coach at Indiana.
WELCOME HOME, K-FREE! Freeman was a starter for the Huskies when they won the national championship in 1999 and was a longtime member of the operations staff at UConn under Jim Calhoun and Kevin Ollie. Freeman, 42, wanted to be an on-court coach and left UConn two years ago to be an assistant at Penn State. That was Freeman’s first season as a bench coach and one he waited many years to find.
YOUNG PROMOTED: Dan Hurley promoted assistant Kimani Young to associate head coach yesterday. While Freeman’s hiring isn’t official, the school did announce Young’s promotion.
WHAT DID HURLEY SAY? “Since we’ve been here, Coach Young’s contributions in coaching, recruiting and player development, as well as in the building of our culture, have been immeasurable. He is a leader of young men, who connects with young people and builds strong relationships both inside and outside our program.”
BOTTOM LINE: We aren’t happy to lose Hunter, who was gangbusters on the recruiting trail, but he left a nice going-away present in forward Jordan Hawkins, a Class of 2021 commit. It is also nice to see Freeman, one of the unsung heroes when he was at UConn, back in the fold. Freeman played professionally for more than a decade before returning to UConn as a coach. He was the director of operations under Ollie. Sometimes you have to leave before you can come back home, and it looks like the risk of leaving a comfort zone has paid off for Freeman.
