Chris Klimchock’s first basketball head coaching job is almost literally in his backyard.

Pitt-Greensburg announced Monday the hiring of the Greensburg native as its new men’s basketball coach. He replaces Brody Jackson, who recently was named athletic director and basketball coach at Manchester High School in Akron, Ohio.

Jackson was the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Coach of the Year in 2019-20.

“I would like to thank Jeromy Yetter (Pitt-Greensburg director of athletics) and the entire search committee for giving me the incredible opportunity to come back to my hometown and lead such a wonderful group of young men,” Klimchock said. “I am absolutely thrilled to be joining the Pitt Greensburg community. I look forward to building on the success of the program and developing our young men both on and off the court.”

Klimchock was one of the WPIAL’s top point guards while playing at Greensburg Salem. He helped the Golden Lions advance to the school’s only PIAA Class AAA championship appearance in 2009. His coast-to-coast, winning floater helped knocked off T.J. McConnell and Chartiers Valley in the PIAA quarterfinals.

He graduated as the school’s third all-time leading scorer with 1,455 points after averaging 17.7 points per game. He earned second-team all-state honors and was named Tribune-Review Player of the Year.

“It’s a dream come true to come home and coach in a great community,” Klimchock said. “I’m excited to started and continue to biold on the foundation that Brody started. We have a really good group coming back.”

Klimchock is no stranger to the AMCC, having spent the past five seasons as assistant men’s coach at Penn State Behrend under veteran coach Dave Niland.

Klimchock helped guide the Lions to three consecutive AMCC Tournament championship appearances as well as the 2019 AMCC title. He helped lead Behrend to a 20-win campaign in all four years.

“We would like to welcome Chris to the Pitt-Greensburg community and back home to Greensburg,” Yetter said in a news release. “I am extremely excited to have Chris lead our men’s basketball program. From the start of the search Chris rose to the top with his qualifications and experiences. Over the last several years I have been able to watch Chris grow in this profession as an assistant at Penn State Behrend, and there is no doubt that he is a rising star in the coaching profession.”

Klimchock worked two seasons as an assistant coach at Regis College in Weston, Mass., and was a student assistant at his alma mater, Saint Vincent.

He also has worked various basketball camps and served on the Hoop Group Elite Staff at Albright College.

Klimchock spent his freshman and sophomore seasons at Edinboro where he played in 51 games and was a three-time PSAC Freshman of the Week before transferring to Saint Vincent for his final two seasons.

At Saint Vincent, Klimchock was a two-year starter, captain, and first-team All-PAC selection during his senior season and helped guide the Bearcats to the 2013 PAC Tournament Title and a berth into the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Klimchock graduated with his bachelor’s degree in psychology and earned a master’s degree in organizational and professional communication from Regis in 2016 as well as a master’s degree in business administration from Penn State Behrend in 2018.

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)