John Linehan from Chester is leaving the Hawks’ sideline after two seasons as St. Joseph’s men’s assistant basketball coach to join the coaching staff of Brigham Young University.

Linehan was a key part of the Hawks’ run to the National Invitation Tournament this past season, reports the staff of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The St. Joe’s program also won the inaugural Big 5 Classic title.

The assistant coach had past roles at Temple and Drexel. He was an assistant at Georgia for four seasons under coach Tom Crean and spent two seasons prior to that at Hartford.

During Linehan’s playing career, he was regarded as one of the best college defensive players. In five seasons at Providence.

Between 1997 and 2002, he was a two-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year and set an NCAA record with 385 career steals that stood until 2021.

“John comes to BYU after working for two coaches I have great respect for in Billy Lange and Tom Crean,” BYU coach Kevin Young said in a statement. “John will help our guys get better every day with his energy and passion for development.”

Read more about John Linehan’s career and his move over to BYU in The Philadelphia Inquirer.