.jpg) Christian in 2019 | |
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Canisius |
| Conference | MAAC |
| Record | 3–28 (.097) |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | (1965-02-06)February 6, 1965 (age 60) Bethpage, New York, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1983–1985 | Boston University |
| 1986–1988 | Rhode Island |
| 1988–1989 | Sydney City Comets |
| Position(s) | Guard |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1990–1992 | Western Kentucky (assistant) |
| 1992–1994 | Saint Francis (PA) (assistant) |
| 1994–1995 | Western Kentucky (assistant) |
| 1995–1996 | Miami (OH) (assistant) |
| 1996–1999 | Pittsburgh (assistant) |
| 2001–2002 | Kent State (assistant) |
| 2002–2008 | Kent State |
| 2008–2012 | TCU |
| 2012–2014 | Ohio |
| 2014–2021 | Boston College |
| 2024–present | Canisius |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 323–314 (.507) |
| Tournaments | 0–2 (NCAA Division I) 0–5 (NIT) 1–1 (CBI) 2–1 (CIT) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 2MAC tournament (2006,2008) 3MAC regular season (2006, 2008, 2013) 5MAC East Division (2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2013) | |
| Awards | |
| 2×MAC Coach of the Year (2006, 2008) | |
James Patrick Christian[1] (born February 6, 1965) is an Americancollege basketballcoach who is the head coach of theCanisius Golden Griffins. He previously served as the head coach atBoston College,Kent State,TCU andOhio.
Christian was born inBethpage, New York. He was an all-state guard atSt. Dominic High School in nearbyOyster Bay while playing underRalph Willard, who later was the head coach atWestern Kentucky,Pittsburgh, andHoly Cross. Following his prep career, Christian was recruited by coachRick Pitino atBoston University where he played two seasons before transferring to theUniversity of Rhode Island. Both Willard and Pitino also attended St. Dominic High School.
Christian played his final two campaigns underTom Penders at the University of Rhode Island, where he helped the Rams reach the Sweet Sixteen of the1988 NCAA tournament. The former standout guard guided theRams to victories overMissouri andSyracuse before dropping a 73–72 decision toDuke in the Sweet 16 round.
After earning his bachelor's degree inconsumer affairs from the University of Rhode Island in 1988, Christian spent one season playing professionally in theAustralian Basketball Association for the Sydney City Comets.
After returning to the United States, Christian became theWestern Kentucky UniversityHilltoppers' assistant coach under head coachRalph Willard from 1990 to 1992. From there, Christian went on to assist head coachesTom McConnell atSaint Francis University (1992–1994),Matt Kilcullen again atWestern Kentucky University (1994–1995),Herb Sendek atMiami University (1995–1996),Ralph Willard atUniversity of Pittsburgh (1996–1999), andStan Heath atKent State University (2001–2002).
After assisting former head coachStan Heath in the 2001–02 season, Christian became head coach atKent State University from 2002 to 2008, where he led theGolden Flashes to six consecutive seasons of twenty or more wins, fourMAC East division titles, two overall MAC titles, and two conference tournament championships. His teams also had five post-season appearances, three in theNIT and two in the NCAA Tournament. His record at Kent State was 137–59.[2]
AtTexas Christian University, Christian took over the position vacated byNeil Dougherty in March 2008. In Christian's final year coaching theHorned Frogs, he helped the program break a seven-year losing streak and gave them a bid in the College Basketball Invitational Tournament. The squad posted an 18–15 overall record, four more wins than in any season since 2004–05, and ended with its best finish ever in the Mountain West Conference at fifth place.[3]
On Tuesday, April 3, 2012, Christian was named the new head basketball coach atOhio, becoming the program's 17th head coach, after former head coachJohn Groce left forIllinois.
In Christian's first year, the Ohio Bobcats shared the MAC regular season title with Akron with a conference record of 14–2, Ohio's first regular season title since1994.[4] Ohio earned themselves a No. 2 seed in theMAC tournament, where they beat Western Michigan 74–63. The following evening, Ohio lost to Akron 65–46 in the MAC Championships, losing a bid to theNCAA tournament.[5] However, Ohio earned anat-large bid in the2013 NIT tournament as a number 6 seed in the Alabama quadrant.[6]
On April 3, 2014, Christian resigned his position at Ohio to become the head coach atBoston College, replacingSteve Donahue.[7]
On April 3, 2014, Jim Christian was named the Head Coach at Boston College. Under Christian, the Eagles saw little success, winning just 6 games in conference play in his first 3 seasons. They found some success in his fourth season, going 19–16, their best record since the 2010-2011 season. They also clinched an invitation to the NIT, their first postseason appearance since they went to the NCAA Tournament in 2009. That was however, the extent of their success under coach Christian as they finished with a losing record every other season.
After starting the 2020-2021 season 3-13, Boston College fired Jim Christian as their head coach and named Scott Spinelli their interim coach. In7+1⁄2 seasons, Jim Christian was 78-132 overall, 26-94 in conference play.
On June 21, 2022, Jim Christian returned to Kent State as the Assistant Athletic Director.
On April 8, 2024, Christian was named head coach at Canisius.[8][9]
Christian and his wife, Patty, were married in the summer of 2005, and have three children, MacKenzie, Zach, and Jay.
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kent State Golden Flashes(Mid-American Conference)(2002–2008) | |||||||||
| 2002–03 | Kent State | 21–10 | 12–6 | 1st(East) | NIT First Round | ||||
| 2003–04 | Kent State | 22–9 | 13–5 | 1st(East) | NIT First Round | ||||
| 2004–05 | Kent State | 20–13 | 11–7 | T–2nd(East) | NIT First Round | ||||
| 2005–06 | Kent State | 25–9 | 15–3 | 1st(East) | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| 2006–07 | Kent State | 21–11 | 12–4 | 2nd(East) | |||||
| 2007–08 | Kent State | 28–7 | 13–3 | 1st(East) | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
| Kent State: | 137–59 (.699) | 76–28 (.731) | |||||||
| TCU Horned Frogs(Mountain West Conference)(2008–2012) | |||||||||
| 2008–09 | TCU | 14–17 | 5–11 | 7th | |||||
| 2009–10 | TCU | 13–19 | 5–11 | 7th | |||||
| 2010–11 | TCU | 11–22 | 1–15 | 9th | |||||
| 2011–12 | TCU | 18–15 | 7–7 | 5th | CBI Quarterfinal | ||||
| TCU: | 56–73 (.434) | 18–44 (.290) | |||||||
| Ohio Bobcats(Mid-American Conference)(2012–2014) | |||||||||
| 2012–13 | Ohio | 24–10 | 14–2 | T–1st(East) | NIT First Round | ||||
| 2013–14 | Ohio | 25–12 | 11–7 | 3rd(East) | CIT Quarterfinal | ||||
| Ohio: | 49–22 (.690) | 25–9 (.735) | |||||||
| Boston College Eagles(Atlantic Coast Conference)(2014–2021) | |||||||||
| 2014–15 | Boston College | 13–19 | 4–14 | 13th | |||||
| 2015–16 | Boston College | 7–25 | 0–18 | 15th | |||||
| 2016–17 | Boston College | 9–23 | 2–16 | 15th | |||||
| 2017–18 | Boston College | 19–16 | 7–11 | 12th | NIT First Round | ||||
| 2018–19 | Boston College | 14–17 | 5–13 | T–11th | |||||
| 2019–20 | Boston College | 13–19 | 7–13 | T–10th | |||||
| 2020–21 | Boston College | 3–13 | 1–9 | 15th | |||||
| Boston College: | 78–132 (.371) | 26–94 (.217) | |||||||
| Canisius Golden Griffins(MAAC)(2024–present) | |||||||||
| 2024–25 | Canisius | 3–28 | 3–17 | 13th | |||||
| Canisius: | 3–28 (.097) | 3–17 (.150) | |||||||
| Total: | 323–314 (.507) | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||
