By Dashawn Hendricks, Sports Talk Philly writer 
The Philadelphia 76ers have announced their coaches for the 2016-17 Season. Jim O'Brien and Kevin Young will be Brett Brown's assistant coaches, John Bryant and Alvin Williams will be the player development coaches, John Townsend will be the shooting coach, Chris Babcock will be assistant Director of player development and Dr. Lance Pearson will serve as Director of Applied Analytics. As a result, former shooting coach Eugene Burroughs has received a promotion to the head coach for the Sixers D-League affiliate, the Delaware 87ers.
Brett Brown had this to say via Sixers.com
"We are excited to maintain a continuity of culture within the staff by promoting five very talented coaches from within our organization," said Sixers Head Coach Brett Brown. "This commitment to growth and development is the foundation upon which we were also able to recruit three coaches with decades of expertise who will help move our program forward and fit seamlessly into our system."
O'Brien served as 76ers head coach during the 2004-05 season, going 43-39 and earning a playoff berth before losing to the Pistons in five games. He has held three head coaching positions including the 76ers, Celtics and Pacers in the NBA.
Young has been coaching in the D-League since 2007, serving his tenure as the Delaware 87ers head coach. He also played for Clayton State University for two years from 2002 to 2004.
Bryant's most recent work has been serving as assistant coach for the 87ers for the last two seasons, and coach with Bakersfield Jam. Not only was he a successful coach, but also played collegiate at St. Joseph's for four years.
Townsend has credentials in coaching, developing young prodigies, and playing. He has aided many teams as a shooting coach for Toronto, Portland, and NBA Development League. During his stint with Portland in 08-09, the Blazers shot 46.5 from the field.
After spending a decade in playing in the NBA, Williams decided to coach for awhile. Being a native of Philadelphia, Williams attended Germantown Academy, he also had a successful four year tenure at Villanova University.
Babcock served as a development assistant and assistant video coordinator for two seasons. Not being notable for being a player, he stayed behind the scenes and was a coach at the University of Texas for four years.
Pearson has worked diligently with the Sixers for the past three seasons with jobs such as coaching analytics, and the operations department. He graduated from Kentucky as a psychology major. Pearson has obtained three bachelor degrees, and holds a Ph.D in cognitive and neutral systems from Boston University.
Burroughs has emerged from an assistant coach at Marist College to a shooting coach for the Sixers'. Two years prior, Burroughs spent two years as a head coach. As a player in his college years, in the NCAA Tournament he defeated a number three seed when his team landed fifteenth.
