Sean O’Brien is in his fourth season as an assistant coach at Lafayette during the 2025-26 season.
Men’s basketball improved it’s win total for the third straight season in 2024-25, advancing to the Patriot League Quarterfinal on March 6. Lafayette got out to a slow non-conference start before finding its way during the Lafayette Classic from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1, going 2-1 through the inaugural round-robin tournament in the newly refurbished Kirby Sports Center. Momentum swung the program to outcomes such as the exciting 76-61 road win at defending conference champion Colgate and a 78-70 Senior Day victory versus Lehigh, the 150th series dub since the Rivalry’s inception in 1902. Justin Vander Baan was crowned the Defensive Player of the Year after a sensational season in the front court, finishing his Leopard career ranked second all-time in program blocks (188), which topped the NCAA from Jan. 16-20. He was also listed on the Third Team and the All-Defensive Team while Alex Chaikin (Third Team, All-Rookie) and Caleb Williams (All-Rookie) had electric initial campaigns.
The Maroon and White concluded the 2023-24 season with an 11-21 (10-8 PL) overall record, finishing in second place in the Patriot League regular season and advancing to the Patriot League Tournament quarterfinal. With his assistance, men’s basketball matched the program record of seven consecutive Patriot League victories in a row to open the conference slate. The 2003-04 squad was the last Lafayette team to open league play with a 7-0 mark. The 10 conference wins are the most that the program has had since moving to an 18-game schedule back in 2013. Four Leopards earned All-Conference laurels following the season, the largest group since 2011-12. Devin Hines, Kyle Jenkins and Justin Vander Baan were named to the All-Patriot League Third Team while Mark Butler took home All-Rookie honors. Butler continued College Hill’s streak of placing at least one player on the first-year squad since 2019. Vander Baan was also tabbed to the All-Defensive squad.
O’Brien was welcomed to College Hill and joined former head coach Mike Jordan's staff for the 2022-23 season, where he aided the Leopards to the 2023 Patriot League Tournament championship game.
He spent the 2021-22 season as the director of basketball operations at Colgate University under head coach Matt Langel. O’Brien’s alma mater claimed a conference title and an NCAA Tournament berth.
That stint followed his playing career at Colgate, when he was a two-year captain and two-time team MVP who racked up 1,040 points, 301 rebounds and 335 assists while setting school records for career games played (127) and single-season minutes played (1,159). As a senior, he earned All-Patriot League Third Team honors while ranking fourth nationally in assist-turnover ratio.
After graduating from Colgate in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology, O’Brien played two years professionally overseas with Scott’s Lakers in Killarney, Ireland. He returned to North America to compete for the Rayos de Hermosillo in Hermosillo, Mexico during a shortened 2020 season.
The Lafayette Hill, Pa., native spent the 2020-21 season as a graduate manager for Aaron McKie’s men’s basketball program at Temple University, where he worked for his Master’s in Business Administration.
Updated 4/25
