The Brennan brothers helped each other steer their basketball paths. Now they lead Rowan’s program — together.

John Brennan Jr. always knew his brother, Eric, had a future in basketball.

From street games in front of their childhood home in Chester to practicing at Widener’s facility, John watched his little brother develop into a Catholic League standout.

At 6-foot-7, he had the size, ballhandling skills, and shooting touch to make a solid college forward. Except Eric, then a senior at West Catholic in 2008, wasn’t receiving any interest from programs. So John, who’s four years older, took matters into his own hands.

“He was everything you wanted from your starter and had zero recruitment,” said John, 38, who has spent more than a decade in the high school and local college coaching scene. “I was like, this is kind of weird that he doesn’t, maybe he just needs more exposure.

“I had this little handheld video camera that I bought and I sent two games worth of film to every Division II school in the country and there were two schools that got back to me. All you need is one school and that’s what happened to him.”

And what better game for a college coach to attend than the Catholic League championship? Lock Haven’s coaches came out to watch Eric play and liked what they saw. Afterward, they offered him a full ride.

“That was just a moment where I was like, ‘I knew what I was talking about,’” John said.

John refers to Eric as his first recruit. It happened unknowingly and opened his eyes to the world of coaching. On the flip side, Eric had a standout college career, which started at Lock Haven before he transferred to Kutztown. He spent a season playing professionally overseas in Espoo, Finland.

The Chester natives helped each other open doors in their respective basketball journeys. And as Eric’s playing career came to a close, coaching became the next endeavor. This year, however, presented a different opportunity for the Brennan brothers.

Their paths have intertwined at Rowan, a Division III program in Glassboro.

After serving as an assistant coach with the Profs for five seasons, Eric, 34, was named the interim head coach this past spring. He immediately called John following the news and asked him to join the staff as an assistant. Despite the commute from Springfield, Delaware County, and it being a volunteer position, John said it was a no-brainer.

“I thought it would be special,” he said. “Not many people get to say that they coach college basketball with their brother.”

Eric added: “Growing up, sports tied us together. It’s crazy how things work. It’s great that it’s made it this far. I’m getting an opportunity to coach a basketball team and he’s been helping me every step of the way.”

The Brennan brothers, including their middle brother Rory, 35, had a tight-knit relationship centered around sports.

It was all they talked about at family events, with friends, and of course, on the court.

“We were always thick as thieves,” John said. “We literally would get home from school, play basketball or play sports. I would always bring both my brothers with me and my older friends, because that’s something that my dad instilled. You have to look out for your younger brothers, and you’re responsible for them, but they were cool kids.”

Their father and uncles played a part in their sports fandom. But they were more hockey fans. In Chester, though, there weren’t many kids on rollerblades. There was, however, plenty of basketball to go around.

“Eric always had a basketball in his hand,” John said. “There’s these things called AND1 mixtapes and AND1 is a sneaker brand. It was actually started by Westtown’s head coach — we would go and take the bus from Chester to the mall, get the AND1 mixtape and then practice all the dribbling moves.

“Basketball was just a way of life. It was part of our identity.”

John, a Cardinal O’Hara graduate, knew he had an athletic ceiling. That didn’t stop him from consuming the game, whether it was watching SportsCenter, playing the NBA Live video game or reading the box scores in the newspaper. He wanted to know everything about every player.

When he experienced playing in the Catholic League, John started to learn the rich history behind it, which intrigued him to stick around even after his high school playing days were over.

While pursuing a degree in sport management at Temple, John helped West Catholic’s program, where Eric was a freshman at the time. He did the books and ran some drills. It was essentially John’s introduction to coaching, but it also gave him an opportunity to see his brother’s potential.

“It was John who helped me understand that you might be able to do something with this if you want to,” Eric said about playing in college. “I played basketball because it’s fun — there was never this end goal of the NBA. But he started training me all the time. He really helped me excel my game because of the time he invested with me.”

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John made that investment because growing up in Chester, he knew those opportunities to go to college for free didn’t come often, and he wanted Eric to take advantage of it.

They took trips to Widener every day to get a workout in. John tried to find new ways to improve Eric’s game. He looked at moves that players were doing on television and made Eric do them. Or use the dial-up internet at the time to show him a video online.

“He was the first kid that I ever trained,” John said. “That’s what led me on a path to coaching as well, because I could always coach it and train it better than I can play it. And he was talented. A lot of the techniques I used with him were the techniques that I use still to this day.”

John, who works for the School District of Philadelphia in the office of climate and control, has volunteered as an assistant coach for area programs, including his alma mater O’Hara and most recently Neumann Goretti.

He also had stints at Valley Forge Military College (2013-15) and Neumann University (2009-11).

And after two seasons at Lock Haven, Eric transferred to Kutztown, where he was a two-time All-PSAC selection and was named the team’s MVP in 2012.

But before that season, the Brennan family was faced with hardship. Their father, John Brennan Sr., went into cardiac arrest and died on Sept. 8, 2011. He was 54 years old.

“It was shocking, we were obviously devastated at the time,” Eric said.

“I realized that I needed to be kind of a support system,” John added. “It happened abruptly, so it wasn’t something we were prepared for. Eric and Rory were living together at Kutztown. I’m sure my brothers had thoughts, like, ‘Do I take a semester off, what do I do?’ Because my mom was at home as well.”

However, there was never a question about Eric halting his basketball career because that’s not what his father would have wanted. He leaned on Kutztown coach Bernie Driscoll, who’s in his 23rd season at the helm, and his staff for support.

“The conversations with Coach Driscoll and [assistant] Tom York during that time, I needed it,” Eric said. “What they were able to do for me, I’ve seen them do that with other guys on the team, because we had some real-life issues happening with some of my teammates, and every time they held it down. They knew what to say or the new type of support to give.”

That kind of mentorship was what Eric and John wanted to offer as coaches. Winning is great, but making an impact on someone’s life means more, Eric said, which guided him to becoming a coach.

John knew Eric would make a great coach one day. When Eric’s playing career ended, John helped him land his first assistant position under legendary coach Herb Magee at Philadelphia University, now known as Thomas Jefferson.

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“He knew Coach Magee — they had actually recruited him,” John said. “When we talked about him coaching, that’s a great place to start with the most winningest coach in college basketball history. I think he’s better suited to be a coach than I am just by temperament. I thought it was a great opportunity for him to learn from Coach Magee, for him to see what a winning program looks like.”

Eric spent five seasons under Magee and witnessed the Hall of Famer earn his 1,000th win, becoming one of only four college coaches to achieve that milestone.

“I learned a lot on his staff,” Eric said. “I would say mainly just the overall way he ran his program and the respect his players gave him was amazing to see. He built his program that way over time and it’s something for me as a young coach to aspire to.”

John and Eric have a saying: “The next day is the most important day.” They tell their Rowan team that frequently, because it reminds them to stay focused on the present.

John said he was looking to get out of the coaching scene before he and his wife welcomed their second child. But there was a part of him that knew this opportunity was one he couldn’t pass up. He’s certain of that every time he’s on the sidelines and gets to see Eric beside him, leading the team.

“When I’m in the heat of the game, I’m so invested in the game, but then when you look to the left and you hear a timeout and your brother’s calling it,” John said, “he’s drawing something up in the huddle, there are times where I’m like, ‘Man, this is pretty cool.’”

So far it’s been about focusing on development in Esbjornson Gymnasium for the 7-4 Profs. Last year, the Profs made a run under former coach Joe Crispin in the NCAA Division III tournament but fell to Wisconsin-Oshkosh in the Sweet 16.

Eric and John share a similar coaching approach: making sure the team understands the importance of scouting, film sessions, and executing on the court. Those aspects of the game go hand in hand with winning, John said.

They hope to make an impact on the Profs’ program. Make it a place that graduates feel like they can come back to and where future recruits can be successful.

“I’m just enjoying getting this opportunity and trying to make the most of it,” Eric said. “I think John got a lot of joy out of helping me grow as a player. That was a big reason for him joining the staff this year, is wanting me to be successful as a coach, and knowing that he can add value to our program — I definitely owe a lot to him.”