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Maurice Freeman, a Patriot state champion in the high jump in 2012, now coaches the boys track team. -
Freeman coaches alongside assistant George Gresham, who orginally coached Freeman at Oglethorpe County. -
Freeman competing as a sprinter at the University of Georgia -
Freeman competing in the high jump at Oglethorpe County
George Gresham remembers coaching Maurice Freeman on the Oglethorpe County track and field team over a decade ago. So, when Freeman returned to Oglethorpe County, after a track career at the University of Georgia, Gresham was quite pleased.
“He came back,” Gresham said. “He could’ve gone anywhere, but he came back to Oglethorpe like I did, and I love it.”
When he came back to the county, Freeman said he knew he wanted to coach and help OCHS athletes, but he didn’t want to teach — at first.
“I’ve grown to enjoy teaching, because honestly, growing up in Oglethorpe, there weren’t as many Black male teachers, and so I’ve made a good connection with some of the kids that look like me and let them know that they don’t have to be a teacher, but they can be a leader in some kind of way,” Freeman said.
Now as the head coach of the boys track team, a middle school basketball coach and a sixth-grade math teacher, Freeman said he cares about more than results from his athletes.
“They are kinda like my little brothers,” he said. “I kind of take them under my wing. It’s not just all about, ‘I need to teach you how to do a layup for basketball or I need to teach you how to do this at high jump, or how to get into the blocks for track,’ it’s life stuff, too.”
Freeman, who is 6-foot-8, finished his high school career as a state champion in the high jump in 2012. His future changed after he drew the attention of college scouts, and even though he wanted to play basketball in college, the University of Georgia wanted him to continue his track career.
Success followed at Georgia. He still holds the school record in the distance medley relay and outdoor 400-meter relay.
After graduating in 2017 with a degree in human development and family science, Freeman went back to school to become a teacher. He received a master’s in teaching from Piedmont in 2022.
At 30 years old, Freeman enters his third year of coaching on the same track he once ran, now with a newly renovated surface. He uses his experiences to coach, replicating his training from Georgia for his athletes.
“I'm not making them do anything I've not ever tried myself, so they know that, too,” Freeman said.
Gresham said when he reflects on Freeman’s growth from when he was at OCHS to now, he’s proud of how Freeman gives back to Oglethorpe County.
“He’s a grown man, that’s all I can say, a grown man,” Gresham said.