Sean Kearney Position: Associate Head Coach Alma Mater: Scranton '81

Sean Kearney, one of the most respected and well-liked coaches in the coaching ranks, begins his 21st season as a college coach in 2007-08. Regarded as one of the top associates in the game today, he has been head coach Mike Brey's lead assistant since the two began coaching together at the University of Delaware following Brey's appointment to the top post at the Newark, Del., school in 1995. When Mike Brey left Delaware to take the head coaching job at Notre Dame, he brought with him the only top assistant he had known as a head coach -- Kearney.

The combination of Brey and Kearney has been a winning one both at Notre Dame and Delaware for the past 12 years. The two have combined for 241 victories and a nearly 65.0 winning percentage, six NCAA tournament and four National Invitation Tournament appearances and a BIG EAST West Division championship in 2001.

Over the course of the last seven seasons, Notre Dame has posted a 124-78 record for a 61.4 winning percentage and advanced to the postseason in each of those seasons, including four NCAA tournament trips and a berth in the Sweet 16 in 2003. The Irish have posted four 20-win campaigns and finished with a 66-46 record in BIG EAST regular-season play that includes four seasons with 10-plus wins.

Kearney has been instrumental in the resurgence of the Irish basketball program. His primary focus is with the development of Notre Dame's post players. In addition, he coordinates the program's national recruiting efforts.

Kearney has aided in the development of first-round NBA Draft picks Troy Murphy in 2001 and Ryan Humphrey in 2002. Also under his tutelage, 2006 graduate Torin Francis earned BIG EAST all-conference honors two of his four seasons (as an all-rookie team selection in 2003 and all-conference honorable mention choice in 2004) and finished his career as one of only seven players in school history with better than 1,000 career points and 900 rebounds.

Following the 2006-07 campaign, forward Luke Harangody was named to the league's all-rookie team after the Irish finished with a 24-8 record and matched their best regular-season record (11-5) in school history.

Promoted to associate head coach prior to the start of the 1998-99 Blue Hen season, he helped Delaware to four NCAA tournament appearances (1992, '93, '98 and '99) overall during his eight-year tenure at the school. Kearney and Brey combined for a 99-52 (.656) record from 1995-2000 and registered at least 20 wins in each of the final three years they spent at Delaware, a first in that school's history.

While at Delaware, Kearney was instrumental in developing the Blue Hens' post players. Three of the players he worked with -- Greg Smith, Spencer Dunkley and Mike Pegues -- combine to hold over 20 Blue Hen records.

Notre Dame is the sixth coaching stint for Kearney, and fifth in the collegiate ranks. No stranger to the BIG EAST, Kearney previously served as an assistant under Rick Pitino at Providence for one year (1986-87) and also coached at Northwestern (1988-91) under Bill Foster.

Kearney began coaching in 1981 as an assistant at his alma mater, Cardinal O'Hara High School in Springfield, Pa. From 1981-86, he spent five years working with his former high school coach, Bud Gardler. While coaching at Cardinal O'Hara, he was employed as a senior systems analyst for Cigna. It was during that time that Kearney joined the staff of the prestigious Five Star Basketball Camps. That association helped him move on to the college coaching ranks.

His collegiate coaching career began in dramatic fashion at Providence College. During his only season at the Providence, R.I. school, the Friars advanced to the Final Four of the '87 NCAA tournament in New Orleans by winning the Southeast Regional championship, marking the school's second Final Four appearance.

After Pitino moved to the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association, Kearney became an assistant under longtime head coach Herb Magee at Division II power Philadelphia Textile (now Philadelphia University). After just one season, he moved to Northwestern.

Kearney, who graduated with honors from the University of Scranton in 1981 with a bachelor's degree in political science, was a four-year member of the Royals' basketball team. In his final two seasons, Scranton finished with consecutive 18-11 records. He was a member of teams that won three Middle Atlantic Conference titles and earned three NCAA Division III playoff appearances. As a senior, he averaged 4.2 assists per game.

Born Nov. 14, 1959, he is married to the former Kimberly Lancaster. The couple has two daughters, Erin, a sophomore in high school, and Shannon, an eighth grader.