During the same week in June when he learned that Luke Harangody would return for his senior season, Notre Dame men's basketball coach Mike Brey hoped he would lose the services of associate head coach Sean Kearney.

Kearney, Brey stressed, was ready to become a head coach after 20-plus years as a college assistant. On Friday, the 49-year-old Kearney will be introduced as the new coach at Holy Cross.

Kearney was hired Thursday morning.

Brey, who was traveling Thursday morning and not immediately available for comment, did share his feelings via Twitter.com.

"So happy and proud of Sean K...well-deserved for (one) of (true) gentlemen of the coaching (profession)...a great fit."

Brey told the Tribune exactly that minutes after learning Ralph Willard had resigned from Holy Cross to become the lead assistant under good friend Rick Pitino at the University of Louisville. Kearney was ready to be a head coach, and the perfect place to start was at Holy Cross, a Catholic school that, like Notre Dame, has to recruit a different type of student-athlete.

Brey planned to phone Holy Cross athletic director Dick Regan and former Crusaders standout Ron Perry and ask them to take a long look at Kearney, one of the most respected coaches in the business.

"Sean Kearney would be a fabulous fit," Brey told the Tribune last month. "That's somebody they should take a look at."

Kearney interviewed at least twice at Holy Cross, the latest Monday afternoon in Massachusetts. He was chosen from a group of finalists that included Pittsburgh assistant coach Tom Herrion and Holy Cross graduate Rod Baker.

Holy Cross, which finished 18-14 last year, is expected to challenge for the Patriot League championship in 2009-10.

A native of Darby, Pa., whose first start in college coaching was as a graduate assistant at Providence under Pitino during the 1986-87 season, Kearney has never been a college head coach. He also was involved in head coaching vacancies at Saint Louis and Bucknell in recent seasons.

Kearney has worked alongside Brey since 1995 dating back to their days at the University of Delaware. His duties at Notre Dame included tutoring the Irish post players and handling the team's non-conference scheduling.

Kearney is the second assistant to leave Notre Dame during Brey's tenure to become a head coach. Anthony Solomon spent three seasons with the Irish before leaving for St. Bonaventure in 2003. Solomon coached four years at Bonaventure. He returned to Notre Dame in 2008 after one season as an assistant coach at the University of Dayton.

Kearney's spot on the Notre Dame staff remained vacant for all of about 29 minutes. After extending congratulations to Kearney, Brey indicated via Twitter that coordinator of basketball operations Martin Ingelsby, a Notre Dame graduate and former Irish point guard, would be promoted to assistant coach.

"He is a young star in this (profession) and has paid his dues," Brey wrote. "He is an ND man and (one) of "my" guys."