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After one season as an assistant coach for the UConn men’s basketball team, Kevin Freeman is stepping away from his position to lead UConn’s National C Club, the school announced Friday.
Freeman will take the role formerly occupied by current women’s basketball assistant coach Jamelle Elliott. According to UConn, the National C Club “seeks to build and foster relationships through networking, mentoring and professional experience opportunities between former and current UConn student-athletes.”
“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 a 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.”
Freeman returned to UConn in September, filling out the Huskies’ coaching staff after associate head coach Kenya Hunter left to take the same position at Indiana. Freeman’s ties to UConn run deep — the Springfield, Massachusetts native was an integral part of the Huskies’ 1999 national championship team and is one of just four players in program history with 1,400 points and 900 rebounds.
Prior to his short second stint in Storrs, Freeman also served as UConn’s director of basketball administration from 2011-18 under Jim Calhoun and Kevin Ollie. Following Ollie’s firing, Freeman spent two years at Penn State as an assistant coach, where he established a reputation for himself outside his alma mater.
“Kevin played a big part in the program’s step forward this season and I appreciate all his hard work, but I respect his decision to leave the coaching profession,” head coach Dan Hurley said. “I am thrilled that he will be staying at the university in a different capacity and will still be able to interact with our student-athletes and have a positive impact on their lives.”