Owner of the highest winning percentage in program history, fourth-year coach LeAnn Freeland (72-22, .766) has her Greyhounds set to make a fourth-consecutive run at the NCAA Tournament.
The 2009-10 UIndy squad posted a 26-4 record and finished the regular season atop the GLVC East Division. Freeland herself was named the GLVC Coach of the Year, with her team posting a 16-2 mark in the league. UIndy also put together a 24-game winning streak during the year, and received the highest ranking in program history, topping out at No. 2 in the USA TODAY/ESPN Division II Coaches Poll.
At the 2009 national tourney, Freeland’s squad toppled a pair top-10 teams on the way to the school’s first-ever Sweet 16 appearance. UIndy’s two tournament win brought its season total to 24, matching the second-highest sum in program history while earning the No. 24 ranking in the final 2008-09 USA Today/ESPN Division II Poll.
Freeland has now mentored eight All-GLVC performers and 19 academic all-conference players in her three seasons at the helm.
Opening the 2007-08 campaign, Freeland won her very first game as head coach and didn’t stop winning through the first 11 contests, setting a program record for most wins to start a season. The Greyhounds finished the season with 13 conference victories and a trip to the GLVC Tournament semifinals.
A week later, in UIndy’s first NCAA appearance since 2005 and sixth overall, Freeland’s inaugural campaign ended in a one-point, first-round loss to eventual national champion and fellow GLVC-member Northern Kentucky.
Freeland, a former assistant coach at Florida Gulf Coast University, took over the helm at UIndy in June of ‘07 as the seventh head women’s basketball coach in program history. The previous four seasons, she was the top assistant for FGCU and helped the Eagles compile an impressive 102-20 record during her tenure.
"I am really excited to be the head coach at the University of Indianapolis," said Freeland. "I met with the team and was very impressed with their commitment level and enthusiasm. I am eager to start working with these young ladies and hope to make the most of this great opportunity."
In 2006-07, Freeland helped the Eagles finish the regular season ranked No. 1 in the nation, making it all the way to the NCAA Division II National Championship game. FGCU was a staggering 63-3 in her final two seasons there.
Prior to joining the FGCU staff, Freeland was the top assistant at her alma mater, the University of Southern Indiana. There, she helped lead the program to 78 wins, one Great Lakes Valley Conference regular-season title and two GLVC tournament championships, as well as two NCAA Tournament appearances. The 2001 squad advanced to the NCAA DII Elite Eight. She spent the 1998-1999 year as a social studies teacher and volleyball and basketball coach at Castle Junior High in Newburgh, Ind.
She ended her playing career as the most decorated player in Southern Indiana history. She was named First Team Division II All-American three times, GLVC Player of the Year twice, and was inducted into the GLVC Hall of Fame. She led the Screaming Eagles to the 1997 NCAA Division II Championship game.
Freeland was named the College Sports Magazine Player of the Year in 1995. She set six career records at USI, including scoring (2,269) and rebounding (961), as well as three single-season marks and three single-game marks. She was inducted to the GLVC Hall of Fame in 2004 and was one of ten players nominated for the NCAA Division II 25th Anniversary Team in 2005.
Freeland and her husband, Eric Bearden, reside on the south side of Indianapolis.
