Sources – Knicks to hire Saint Joseph’s Billy Lange as a coach

• Jeff Borzello

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  Jeff Borzello

  Basketball recruiting insider

  Jeff Borzello is a basketball recruiting insider. He has joined ESPN in 2014.

Sep 10, 2025, 12:58 PM ET

The New York Knicks are expected to hire Saint Joseph’s head coach Billy Lange for a role on the coaching staff, sources told ESPN.

Lange was set to start his seventh season in charge of the Hawks. He went 81-104 during his time at St. Joe’s, but he won more than 20 games in each of the last two seasons.

He led the Hawks to the NIT in 2024 and 2025, while also seeing forward Rasheer Fleming become the first Saint Joseph’s player selected in the NBA draft since 2016. Fleming was the first pick of the second round by the Oklahoma City Thunder in June.

Prior to replacing Phil Martelli in 2019, Lange was an assistant coach with the Philadelphia 76ers for six years. He was also the head coach at Navy for seven seasons and spent time as an assistant coach under Jay Wright at Villanova for five years over two separate stints.

The Knicks fired Tom Thibodeau in June after five seasons, replacing him a month later with two-time NBA Coach of the Year Mike Brown.

Saint Joseph’s announced that Steve Donahue, who joined the staff as associate head coach in the spring, will become the program’s next head coach.

The school said Donahue “will lead the Hawks into the 2025-26 season and beyond.”

“Coach Donahue has had an incredible impact on collegiate basketball up and down the East Coast and on the national stage,” athletic director Jill Bodensteiner said. “He is a rare and accomplished coach who is as respected for his basketball acumen as he is for his character.”

Other notable assistant coach hires by the Knicks since Brown took over include former Charlotte Hornets assistant Chris Jent and T.J. Saint, who was the head coach of the G League’s Birmingham Squadron.