Knicks Hire St. Joseph's Head Coach

The New York Knicks are once again turning to Philadelphia for assistance.

Per multiple reports, the Knicks will bring tenured coach Billy Lange to their managerial fold. Lange will step down from his current perch as the head of St. Joseph's University's men's basketball team, where he spent the last six seasons. SNY's Ian Begley notes that Lange will "oversee NYK player development" in his new role.

Knicks are expected to hire St. Joe’s head coach Billy Lange to oversee NYK player development, league source says. Lange has won at St. Joe’s, has coached at Villanova under Jay Wright. He was an assistant in Philly for several years during The Process, overseeing player…
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) September 10, 2025

Though he was at the helm of the rival Hawks, Lange will be yet another "'Nova Knick," having earned two stints as an assistant at Villanova University, best-known in New York circles as the alma mater of current franchise faces Mikal Bridges, Jalen Brunson, and Josh Hart. In the latter (2011-13), Lange was Jay Wright's associate head coach, which saw him work with future Knick Ryan Arcidiacono. A "biased" Wright referred to Lange as "an outstanding coach" in a post from Ryan Mulligan of The Hawk Newspaper before Villanova and St. Joe's engaged in their annual showdown in 2019.

Lange left Villanova to serve a six-season term as an assistant with, ironically enough, the Philadelphia 76ers, working under Brett Brown as the franchise engaged in its renowned "Trust the Process" era.

Lange left the Sixers in 2019 to succeed the tenured Phil Martelli as the head coach of the accomplished Hawks program, where he amassed an 81-104 record in six seasons.

After winning only 11 games in his first two tours, Lange guided the Hawks to back-to-back 20-win seasons as well as the first two wins in the Big 5 Classic, a newly-installed regular season tournament that matches Philadelphia schools against each other. St. Joe's reached the postseason with a pair of NIT showings, their first form of activity after the Atlantic 10 Tournament since 2016.

In addition to St. Joe's, Lange has also served as the head coach of the men's programs at the United States Merchant Marine Academy (1999-2001) and the United States Naval Academy (2004-11). He guided the Mariners to the regional semifinal round of the 2001 Division III tournament before posting a 93-114 mark at the helm of the Midshipmen.

New York has often turned to traditional rival for Philadelphia for assistance over the past few seasons: in addition to Lange and the Villanova bunch, New York also signed former 76er Guerschon Yabusele for roster depth earlier this summer.

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