Veteran college basketball coach Freddie Owens has joined the Loyola University Maryland men’s basketball staff as an assistant, Head Coach Tavaras Hardy announced today.
Owens, 37, joins the Greyhounds after spending the previous 10 years as an assistant coach at Patriot League foe Holy Cross, Utah Valley, Oregon State and Montana.
“I am extremely excited to welcome Freddie and his wife, Carmen, to the Greyhounds basketball family,” said Hardy. “My relationship with Freddie dates back to our time competing against each other as student-athletes in the Big 10. He was a tremendous competitor on the court, and that mentality has catapulted him into a very successful coaching career. Freddie has coached multiple NCAA tournament teams, including one in the Patriot League. He fully understands our commitment to pursuing excellence and having coached for two of my mentors, I know he will hit the ground running with our players and staff.”
In his four seasons as an assistant coach and defensive coordinator at Holy Cross, the Crusaders finished in the top two of the Patriot League in scoring defense in each of the last three seasons by giving up an average of just 66.4 points per game. During the 2015-2016 season, he helped Holy Cross to their first Patriot League Tournament Championship title and NCAA Tournament appearance since 2007, while also winning their first NCAA Tournament game since 1953.
“I am thrilled for the opportunity to work alongside Coach Hardy and the staff towards building a championship level program,” said Owens “From our time as student-athletes and coaches, Coach Hardy and I have been able to build a relationship over the years, and I have always been impressed with him as a person and coach. His vision, passion and commitment are things I am very excited to be a part of, and I look forward to working with the staff, administration and the high-character student-athletes who represent Loyola University Maryland.”
He spent the 2014-2015 season at Utah Valley, where he helped the Wolverines’ defense finish fourth in the Western Athletic Conference in scoring defense by giving up just 64 points per game. The Wolverines also ranked fourth in the conference in field-goal percentage defense and 3-point field-goal percentage defense.
During his time at Oregon State University in 2013-2014, he assisted Head Coach Craig Robinson and helped the Beavers rank third in the Pac-12 Conference in scoring offense, averaging 75.8 points per game . Oregon State also secured a spot in the post-season CBI Tournament and scored conference wins over four NCAA Tournament teams by beating UCLA, Oregon, Stanford and Arizona State.
Prior to Oregon State, Owens was an assistant coach at Montana from 2009-2013, where he
helped the Grizzlies win two Big Sky Conferece regular-season championships in 2012 and 2013 and three Big Sky Tournament titles in 2010, 2012 and 2013. The Grizzlies advanced to the NCAA Tournament three times and recorded four-straight 20-plus win seasons.
During his time assisting on the sidelines in Missoula, Montana
amassed a 93-33 overall record, went 56-12 in Big Sky conference, including a 38-2 conference record over a two-year span. While at Montana, he was instrumental in the development of Will Cherry and Kareem Jamar. Cherry was a three-time All-Big Sky First Team member and two-time Defensive Player of the Year in 2012 and 2013. Jamar was named the Most Valuable Player of the Big Sky Conference Tournament in 2012 and conference Player of the Year in 2013.
In 2008-2009, Owens served as a graduate assistant at Iowa State University under Greg McDermott, and prior to his time with the Cyclones, he was an assistant coach at Adams State College where the Grizzlies finished with a 18-10 overall record and ranked in the Top-10 of NCAA Division II regional rankings during the 2007-2008 season.
He began his coaching career after playing professionally in Estonia and Latvia.
As an undergraduate player, he was a two-year starter and four-year letter winner at the University of Wisconsin where he was co-captain of the Badgers’ 2002 and 2003 Big Ten regular-season and 2004 Big Ten Tournament championship teams.
Wisconsin advanced to the NCAA Tournament in all four of his years as a player and earned a trip to the Sweet 16 on a game-winning three point shot by Owens to beat Tulsa in the 2003 NCAA Tournament.
In 2016, he founded the Milwaukee Coaches Association (MCA), a group which consist of over 500 members and hosts annual basketball clinics in his hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The purpose of the MCA is to serve as a platform for coaches to come together and exchange ideas as it relates to becoming better coaches and mentors to their student-athletes. Each year the MCA clinic draws collegiate and professional coaches from all over the country as guest speakers.
Owens, a Milwaukee native, attended Milwaukee’s Washington High School where his team finished as state runner-up in 1996 and 2000. He received his bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a master’s degree in Higher Education from Iowa State University.
He married Dr. Carmen Gust-Owens of Marshfield, Wisconsin in 2010.
Owens Joins Loyola Men’s Basketball Staff As Assistant Coach
Photo Courtesy Loyola Athletics
