Freeman returning to UConn as assistant

Kevin Freeman is returning to UConn. Again.

Freeman, who helped lead UConn to the 1999 NCAA championship as an undersized power forward, will join Dan Hurley’s staff as an assistant coach.

Freeman spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach at Penn State. Prior to that, he spent seven seasons at UConn’s director of basketball administration, a non-coaching role that included handling the program’s NCAA compliance, travel and practice schedules. When Kevin

Ollie was fired and Hurley hired in March, 2018, Freeman was the only staff member that Hurley retained. However, he left for Penn State in June 2018 — his first job as a coach in any capacity.

Freeman will replace Kenya Hunter, who left the program a little over a week ago to join Archie Miller’s staff at Indiana. Hunter was known for his work with big men (helping players like Josh Carlton and Isaiah Whaley make great improvement) as well as his recruiting ability, particularly in the D.C./Mary

land/Virginia area.

Freeman joins an experienced staff alongside Kimani Young and Tom Moore. On Tuesday, Young was promoted to associate head coach.

“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,” Hurley said. “He is a leader of young men, who connects with young people and builds strong relationships both inside and outside our program.”

Young, 46, has been involved in all aspects of the UConn program. Working on the court mostly with the perimeter players, he already has helped three UConn players to all-conference status, including first-team pick Christian Vital last year. He has helped bring back-to-back Top 20 recruiting classes to Storrs, with a likely third one on the way.

“I am thrilled, excited and humbled to be named associate head coach at UConn,” said Young, who is entering his third season on UConn’s staff. “I would like to thank Coach Hurley and (AD) Dave Benedict for entrusting me with this responsibility.

“We will continue the work that we have started, getting UConn basketball back where it belongs.”

The trio of Young, Moore and Hunter each brought in a top 2021 recruit over the past 45 days: Young was the lead recruiter for forward Samson Johnson of New Jersey, Moore nabbed point guard Rahsool Diggins of Philadelphia and Hunter was the lead man for Jordan Hawkins of Maryland. Despite Hunter’s departure, Hawkins is expected to remain at UConn.

Freeman should be a help with UConn’s big men. He was an overachieving forward in college who finished his career sixth on UConn’s all-time rebounding list with 913 boards and 12th on the career scoring list with 1,476 points, despite being relatively small (6-foot-7) for his position.

He has only been in a position to recruit the past two seasons and will have to gain traction on the recruiting trail. UConn’s 2021 recruiting class is already filled, though the team may have at least one more spot to fill if, as expected, sophomore James Bouknight enters the 2021 NBA Draft. UConn will likely vie for a grad transfer or regular transfer to replace Bouknight next spring.

Freeman, who was named Most Outstanding Player of the 1999 Big East championship tournament and earned a spot on the 1999 NCAA West Region all-tournament team, played professionally for 11 years overseas before joining UConn’s staff in 2011.