Veteran coach Daryn Freedman takes Ambridge boys basketball job, likes program’s potential

By: Chris Harlan
Thursday, April 17, 2025 | 12:29 AM

The standings paint the Ambridge boys as a distressed basketball team: only seven section wins in four years and none this winter.

Daryn Freedman says he sees more.

“I had gone down there and recruited a couple of players between my years at Penn State (Greater Allegheny) and Point Park, and I was always feeling like this program has athletes,” said Freedman, who was hired last week to reshape the program as Ambridge’s coach.

Freedman coached WPIAL basketball at Gateway from 2014-18 and led the small college team at the Penn State campus in McKeesport for four years.

His basketball resume over several decades includes jobs from high school to the NBA. The 48-year-old said he’s confident he can get the Bridgers on track.

“Getting these kids to learn how to win is going to be the biggest thing,” he said. “I’ve done it everywhere. We’re going to teach them how to play defense the right way. Teach them how to believe in each other. Teach them how to be a team and compete.”

Ambridge finished 4-17 this past season and 0-10 in a tough Section 2-4A. Freedman replaces coach Jonas Ankrom, who resigned after going 17-48 in three seasons.

The program touts one of the greatest teams in Pennsylvania history, an undefeated 1966-67 squad that won WPIAL and PIAA titles. The Bridgers nowadays are longing for their first playoff trip in five years.

“I think some really good things could happen there,” Freedman said. “I’m excited about it.”

Freedman resigned at Penn State Greater Allegheny last year after leading the Lions to a PSUAC title in 2023 and a conference runner-up finish in 2024. The team went 52-46 in his three seasons. (One was canceled by the pandemic.)

A Robinson resident, Freedman coached a Sewickley Academy junior varsity team this past winter and said he was drawn to the Ambridge job in part because it was close to home. He also liked the facilities and said his spirits were bolstered by the hiring process.

“I’ve interviewed a few places where I came out saying, ‘I don’t know if I’d really want to work here or coach here,’” he said. “You get a bad feeling. Coming out of this one I said, ‘Wow. They’re on top of it.’”

Gateway went 51-41 in his four seasons and reached the WPIAL playoffs each year. He resigned in 2018 to become associate head coach at Point Park.

His career got its start with various roles under John Calipari. He worked as a student assistant and practice player for Calipari at UMass, followed him to the New Jersey Nets and Philadelphia 76ers of the NBA and later Memphis as director of basketball operations over the span of a decade.

Freedman also worked with coach Ron Everhart at Northeastern and Duquesne and coached prep school basketball with a stint at Kiski School. He runs the AAU program Basketball Stars of America, which made him familiar with some of the current Ambridge players.

“But I don’t know many of them,” Freedman said. “I’m probably going to meet them next week after spring break. Then we get going.”

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: Ambridge