Former Wisconsin standout named as Grizzlies' assistant hoops coach
by Chris Day
ALAMOSA, Colo.— Adams State College men’s basketball coach Mark Murdock announced Thursday that he has hired Freddie Owens, a 4-year letterwinner and 2-year starter at the University of Wisconsin, to serve as his assistant coach.
Owens played in 111 career games for the Badgers from 2000-04 before serving as an assistant coach for head coach Bo Ryan during the 2004-05 season while completing his bachelor of science degree in life sciences and communications.
Owens then moved on to play professional basketball for the Riga Barons in the European nation of Latvia for the 2005-06 season.
Prior to coming to ASC, Owens was the coach of Stay In the Game, an AAU team from his hometown of Milwaukee, Wisc., which took first place in the For the Game Shootout in Chicago.
A native of Milwaukee, Owens was a guard on two Big Ten regular-season championship teams (2001-02 & 2002-03) and one Big Ten tournament championship squad (2004).
The Badgers also advanced to NCAA Tournament during all four years of his career and made an appearance in the “Sweet 16” during his junior season after Owens hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to defeat Tulsa, capping the greatest comeback in school history.
Owens scored 796 points during his career in Madison, averaging 10.3 per game as a junior. He also recorded 226 rebounds, 113 assists and 58 steals while shooting 43.5 percent from the field during his career.
A 2000 graduate of Milwaukee Washington High School, Owens was an honorable mention all-state and all-conference player, who became the first Milwaukeean to earn a basketball scholarship to UW in more than a decade. He was the state of Wisconsin’s third ranked guard in his class.
“Coach Owens brings great pedigree to our staff,” Murdock said. “His success as a player at Wisconsin and overseas speaks volumes to our players in their individual development.
“He has also coached a great AAU program, and has deep recruiting roots in Wisconsin and the Northeast, areas of the country that we intend to target,” Murdock continued.
“Freddie is a class individual and will be a great addition to our program and our college. I couldn't be more pleased and feel like we have landed a blue-chip assistant coach,” Murdock said.
“I am very excited to start my coaching career here at Adams State. I really look forward to working with Coach Murdock and all of the players towards our goal of competing at a high level,” Owens said.
His father Lawrence Owens, Sr. and mother Susan Johnson continue to reside in Milwaukee. He is the oldest of eight children in his family.
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