Former UConn basketball player Kevin Freeman is joining Dan Hurley's staff as an assistant coach.

Freeman spent the last two seasons as an assistant at Penn State. He fills a vacancy left by the recent departure of Kenya Hunter who took an assistant's job at Indiana.

A source confirmed the hiring, which was first reported by Corey Evans of Rivals.com. 

Freeman, 42, has a long history with the UConn basketball program. He had a stellar playing career (1996-2000), helping the Huskies win their first national championship in 1999. He was named Most Outstanding Player of the 1999 Big East tournament and earned a spot on the 1999 NCAA West Regional All-Tournament team.

An undersized hard-working forward with an oversized competitive heart, he finished his career ranked 13th on the school's all-time scoring list, sixth in rebounding and first in games played. He played professionally for 11 years in Venezuela, Italy, Greece, Australia, China, Puerto Rico, Spain and South Korea before returning to UConn in 2011.

He spent seven seasons as director of basketball administration at UConn. He was a member of Kevin Ollie's staff during the 2014 national championship season.

He temporarily stayed in Storrs when Hurley took the UConn job in March 2018. When Penn State coach Patrick Chambers offered him an assistant's job, Freeman left a few months later in June.

"With anything, you've got to put the time in and you can't lose faith in yourself," Freeman said last year about patiently waiting for his opportunity to become an assistant. "When others say no, you've got to have that belief system in yourself. And I've always had that. I looked at other opportunities that maybe I wasn't ready at that moment.

"Everything happens for a reason. I can't pinpoint why. But I'm grateful for the opportunity now. I put a lot of work in to get to where I was at and I waited patiently. It worked out. There's no complaint, no regrets."

A native of Springfield, Mass., Freeman is a familiar face in Northeast basketball circles. He played at Paterson Catholic in New Jersey.

Former Husky Rodney Purvis endorsed Freeman's hiring on his Twitter account.

"K Free is a solid man with morals and principles, he played so he actually understands the players. Players coach for sure, great things happen for great people."

In other news, UConn announced that Kimani Young has been promoted from assistant coach to associate head coach. A native of Queens, N.Y., Young, 46, is entering his third season on Hurley's staff.

"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 in a release. "He is a leader of young men, who connects with young people and builds strong relationships both inside and outside the program."

Hurley added that Young has all the tools to become a head coach in the near future.

"I am thrilled, excited and humbled to be named associate head coach at UConn," Young said. "I would like to thank coach Hurley and (athletic director) David Benedict for entrusting me with this responsibility. We will continue the work that we have started, getting UConn basketball back where it belongs."

Young is well-respected in the college basketball coaching community.

The Athletic named him one of the 25 up and coming assistant coaches in the country. He's a founding member of Coaches For Action, which includes 21 Big East assistant coaches. The group plans to use the platform of athletics to educate and bring awareness to social injustices.

g.keefe@theday.com