Inside Kevin Freeman’s job-switch at UConn
When Kevin Freeman returned to UConn as an assistant coach early in September, he was overjoyed. He used the word. Overjoyed. He talked that day about how he had taken the long way around campus just so he could soak in all the emotions of his return.
“I’d love to be by Coach Hurley’s side and continue to build this thing for many years to come,” Freeman said. “I want this to be a home for my family. I’ve traveled a lot. I’ve been overseas. We’ve moved a lot. I want to make this my basketball home for a long time.”
Freeman, who had been an assistant for two years at Penn State, is an important part of UConn men’s basketball history. An undersized forward with a warrior’s heart, Freeman was named the most outstanding player in the 1999 Big East Tournament and was a key member of UConn’s first national championship. He was named to the school’s All-Century team. He’s not just another guy. He is a piece of the legend.
Yet only seven months after his homecoming, UConn announced Freeman was leaving his coaching job for a role in the athletic division’s National C Club. It is a program whose mission is to build relationships through networking, mentoring and developing professional opportunities between current and former UConn athletes. Jamelle Elliott held this job before she returned to Geno Auriemma’s bench in February 2020.
Freeman’s move came as a surprise to most. The Huskies made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016 and he was out?
Was there a health concern for Freeman or a member of his family?
Had he been forced out? Was he tired of coaching? Or tired of coaching for Dan Hurley?
All sorts of questions immediately surfaced after Andrew Slater of The Athletic tweeted at 3:40 p.m. on Friday that Freeman was expected to step down as
coach. This led UConn to announce within an hour that Freeman was transitioning within the school.
“I have been part of a coaching staff for the past 10 years and I am extremely appreciative of the opportunities I have been given,” Freeman said in the statement. “But at this time, I have decided that a lifestyle change is what’s needed to spend more time with my young family. I want to thank Coach Hurley and the men’s basketball staff. I also want to thank David Benedict and the UConn administration for the opportunity to remain at my alma mater and start this new experience.”
Every word of that quote may well be true. Yet in speaking to a handful of sources, it is fairly evident it isn’t the entire truth.
Numerous attempts to reach Freeman on Friday before Slater’s tweet and after the UConn announcement were unsuccessful. Freeman did return a message Tuesday politely declining an interview, but said he would speak at some point in the future.
On Friday morning, one source told me Freeman had left his job as assistant after Hurley grew upset after he and associate head coach Kimani Young went to Florida on days off without telling him. Some photos on social media showed Freeman with his family in early April.
A second source said he had heard a few weeks earlier that Freeman was looking at an assistant job with Albany, where former UConn assistant Dwayne Killings had been named head coach. It struck the source as odd because Freeman’s salary was $250,000 at UConn and such a move would have meant less money and a program of smaller stature. Later, Freeman was also linked to UMBC, where Jim Ferry recently took over.
A third source echoed the Florida story, making Hurley’s displeasure sound more intense and added that two coaches had called him a few days before the official announcement asking him what he knew about the UConn opening.
From start to finish, it has been clear that working for Dan Hurley and playing for Dan Hurley is not easy. The players aren’t lying when they say when you survive his practices you are tougher mentally, physically, and sometimes temporarily bruised mentally, physically. He practiced on Christmas. Yet it’s also true that an overwhelming number of players, even a guy like Richie Springs who has seen little playing time, have stuck with Hurley. Obviously, he breeds loyalty.
Thirty-nine times since late in 2019, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports has tweeted “Dan Hurley: The Carpenter.” Yes, he is a rebuilder of programs. Yes, he has gotten UConn back on the path of national relevance. Yet even a master carpenter from time to time can bang a finger with a hammer and back into one of his crew with a wooden plank.
The recruiting for 2021, a class that has been ranked in the top 10 nationally, was essentially done when Freeman arrived. Rahsool Diggins committed in late July, while Jordan Hawkins and Samson Johnson committed on Aug. 7 and Aug. 10. Still, make no mistake. This past season, dealing with COVID pauses, COVID restrictions, was difficult for everyone. Recruiting, traveling, organizing — everyone knows being an assistant at an ambitious Division I program is a grind.
Freeman’s wife, Nicole, is from Killingly, but she and their two young boys spent most of the season in Pennsylvania. Remember Freeman was brought in late because Kenya Hunter didn’t leave for Indiana until late August. With no fans at the games, it was easy to spot Nicole, Sire and Legend cheering loudly in the stands. They had driven five, six hours to get there.
As the season drew to a close, there were numerous roster questions to be answered and filled. James Bouknight leaving for the NBA was no surprise, yet it left a big hole. Josh Carlton and Brendan Adams transferred. Isaiah Whaley and Tyler Polley were undecided whether they’d stay for a fifth year.
Whether you like it or not, the skyrocketing number of transfers around the country — 1,400 this year in men’s basketball — and the extra year of eligibility because of COVID drastically changed the landscape. It is certainly reasonable at this time for the NCAA to allow schools to hire a kind of player personnel director with the job of tracking other college rosters during the season as well as keeping high school recruits apprised. It would be best for both the players and programs to find kids good landing spots.
At any rate, as Hurley made clear publicly, he wanted more shooting to help replace the points lost by Bouknight. Davidson’s Kellan Grady, who landed at Kentucky, and Florida’s Noah Locke, who landed in Louisville, were two targets. The return of Polley, a shooting wing, should help. But his pending return wasn’t known in the days after the season ended. With hot attention on the transfer portal, Hurley, according to those multiple sources, wasn’t thrilled with his staff.
To be clear, there is no evidence Hurley wanted Freeman out. Even as late as March 26, Hurley was saying publicly no changes in staff were anticipated. It’s also fair to say we don’t know how good Freeman is as a recruiter. Not nearly enough data. We do know Adama Sanogo praised him up and down for working with him on his post game.
Freeman had been assistant director of basketball operations and then director of basketball operations under Jim Calhoun and Kevin Ollie. Hurley retained Freeman when he arrived in Storrs, but it was Pat Chambers who gave him the chance to become an assistant coach at Penn State in the spring of 2018. He has seen a number of different personalities and various demands by those coaches. He saw Hurley up front and personal. Few work harder and demand more.
So what does Freeman do? Was he willing to downshift and coach at an Albany or UMBC or somewhere where the business can be crazy but not as crazy? Does he get out of the coaching business at age 43? And what does that mean? As all of us who have ever thought about leaving a job know, you’d better have a plan. As Freeman was looking at the bigger picture, after UConn obviously knew that he didn’t want to coach anymore, Benedict and the administration wisely found a good spot for him. Kudos to them.
Freeman is a good man. He clearly deserves the job. It’s up to him if he wants to coach again. He might. He is a basketball man. It’s also up to him to decide what kind of coach he wants to work for in the future. It’s a tough business.