At long last, Kevin Young has finished assembling his first coaching staff at BYU.
Young has hired John Linehan as an assistant coach, Robby McCombs of Vanquish the Foe first reported Wednesday.
"John comes to BYU after working for two coaches I have great respect for in Billy Lange and Tom Crean," Young said in a statement officially announcing the hire. "He is an exceptional player development coach, who has worked with some of the game's great players. John will help our guys get better every day with his energy and passion for development. John is one of the best defensive players in NCAA history and will bring that edge to our program."
Linehan comes to the Cougars from St. Joseph's of the Atlantic 10 Conference, having also been part of staffs at Georgia, Hartford, Brown and Drexel since beginning his coaching career in 2015. During his time at Georgia, Linehan helped in coaching then-Bulldog and current NBA superstar Anthony Edwards.
A standout point guard at Providence from 1997-2002, Linehan earned Big East Defensive Player of the Year honors twice and graduated as the all-time collegiate leader in steals with 385. He spent over a decade playing professionally, most notably for a number of clubs in France.
With the hiring of Linehan, BYU has now filled each of its five assistant coaching positions under Young. Aside from Chris Burgess, none of the new Cougar assistants are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
