GOLFWEEK STAFFUCLA hired Derek Freeman as head men’s golf coach Monday, ending one of the summer’s more interesting coaching searches.
Freeman, 36, replaces O.D. Vincent, who left the Bruins a few weeks ago to coach at Duke. Freeman served last year as an assistant under Vincent.
“The responsibility to direct such a significant program like UCLA is an opportunity of a lifetime,” Freeman said in a statement released by the school. “I am tremendously honored to be coaching the Bruins. My expectations will be to improve upon the foundation that has been established by coach Vincent. I look forward to the challenge of upholding the standard of excellence that is UCLA Athletics. I am excited to provide opportunities to our student-athletes to excel in competition and in life.”
The Bruins are returning all five players from a team that finished last season No. 8 in the
Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings. They also add Philip Francis, the top recruit in the country, and Connor Driscoll, currently 27th in the
Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings.
“I’m really glad he got the job,” said Francis, who is playing on a sponsor exemption at this week’s U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee. “I was really pulling for him.”
Freeman was chosen over three other finalists, including Pacific coach Brandon Goethals and PGA Tour player John Cook.
Cook, who turns 50 in October, recently bought a house in Newport Beach, Calif. He told
Golfweek last week he was excited about the possibility of coaching the Bruins, even if everyone thought he was “crazy.” If hired, Cook said UCLA would have agreed to let him play 15-18 professional events a year.
Before coming to UCLA, Freeman spent two years as an assistant coach at Oklahoma, where he helped lead the Sooners to their first Big 12 Conference team title and a berth in the NCAA Championship. Freeman, a former NAIA National Coach of the Year while at Oklahoma City University, was a starter on the 1992 Sooners squad that won the Big Eight Conference championship.
Posted: 7/16/2007
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