After two seasons as Marshalltown Community College's assistant women's basketball coach, Cody Freland will be taking over the program as head coach for the Tigers.
Freland grew up outside of Rhodes, IA on a Dairy farm before moving to State Center in 2019. His parents Richard and Chris both attended MCC as non-traditional students. Basketball has always been a part of the Freland family with Freland's sisters both playing at Simpson College and Freland a member of the 2014 Boys State Tournament Team.
A graduated of West Marshall High School, Freland started coaching with Kingdom Hoops Spring 2015 and coached both high school girls and boys, working with multiple Division1 power conference athletes. He then took an assistant coaching position at Colfax-Mingo High School where he remained for two years before accepting the MCC assistant women's basketball position in 2019.
"I had the opportunity to learn under former MCC coach, Steve Garber, as well as working with student-athletes these past two seasons with their recruiting," commented Freland. "Most notably Eva Carballo who is currently at Converse University in South Carolina and Eva Zaragoza who will be attending school in Florida."
In addition to being head coach, Freland is currently an Athletic Administrator and Sports Information Coordinator at MCC. He oversees compliance, eligibility, and other assistance needed in the Athletic Department.
MCC will be returning three players from last season including Carla Dorta Perez, Carolina Rodriguez-Sanchez, and Wai Rogers. "I feel that these ladies have the opportunity to grow and flourish this season," commented Freland. "They all have game experience to help get the new incoming players up to speed about my expectations and what we plan on doing."
When asked what his goals are for the program Freland commented, "I want to build a rapport with the community and be able to bring in Iowa based talent as well as some international players, as we have been known for our ability to recruit international players. I will also look to establish a culture that goes off of the African ideal of Ubuntu, which translates to "I am because you are." I hope to compete in our conference and with all Iowa Junior colleges making the transition to Division 2. MCC is part of the best conference in the US and these teams push us to be the best. We also want to stay a top academic program as well as helping with community projects."
"I am very excited to be leading the MCC Women's basketball program, as growing up in the area I remember coming to games and watching the team compete and seeing the large crowds. It is something I hope to see again. I want to thank Dr. Lilienthal and Athletic Director John Kriebs for having the faith in me to lead this program. I would also like to thank Coach Garber for taking a chance on me and allowing me to learn from him and grow as a coach."
