Jamion Christian (born April 18, 1982) is an American
college basketball
In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...
coach, who was most recently the head coach of the
George Washington Colonials men's basketball
The George Washington Colonials men's basketball team represents George Washington University in the United States' capital, Washington, D.C. It plays its home games in the Charles E. Smith Center, which is also shared with other George Washing ...
team. He previously was the head coach at
Siena
Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.
The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...
Quinton, Virginia
Quinton is a small unincorporated area, unincorporated community in New Kent County, Virginia, New Kent County, Virginia, United States. It is located on State Route 249 (Virginia), State Route 249 in the western portion of the county.
Crump's Mil ...
. As a
shooting guard
The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"β6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's m ...
, he led
New Kent High School
New Kent High School is a public high school located in New Kent, Virginia, east of Richmond. Athletic teams compete in the Virginia High School League's AA Bay Rivers District in Region I.
The school relocated to a new facility for the 2008β ...
to a
Virginia High School League
The Virginia High School League (VHSL) is the principal sanctioning organization for interscholastic athletic competition among public high schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The VHSL first sponsored debate and also continues to sponsor sta ...
State Championship with a 26β0 record and earned the VHSL Group A State Player of the Year honors. Christian then became a shooting guard and a three-year captain for Mount St. Mary's under head coaches Jim Phelan and Milan Brown. Christian has a strong pedigree in athletics, Christian's father, John, was a standout track athlete at
Virginia State University
Virginia State University (VSU or Virginia State) is a public historically Black land-grant university in Ettrick, Virginia. Founded on , Virginia State developed as the United States's first fully state-supported four-year institution of high ...
. The elder Christian is in the
Virginia State University
Virginia State University (VSU or Virginia State) is a public historically Black land-grant university in Ettrick, Virginia. Founded on , Virginia State developed as the United States's first fully state-supported four-year institution of high ...
Hall of Fame and is a retired Head Coach of the Charles City High School Track & Field team. His mother was middle school teacher for New Kent County.
His brother Jarell Christian, is currently the Head Coach of the Maine Celtics in the
NBA G League
The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...
.
Assistant coaching career
Christian began his coaching career as an assistant at
Emory and Henry College
Emory & Henry College (E&H or Emory) is a private liberal arts college in Emory, Virginia. The campus comprises of Washington County, which is part of the Appalachian highlands of Southwest Virginia. Founded in 1836, Emory & Henry College is ...
(2004β06), Bucknell (2006β08) and then William & Mary (2008β11). While with Coach Shaver and the Tribe, Christian recruited two of the most successful players in Tribe history: Brandon Britt and Marcus Thornton.
Christian then served as an assistant at Virginia Commonwealth (2011β12) under head coach
Shaka Smart
Shaka Dingani Smart (born April 8, 1977) is an American men's college basketball coach. He is the current head men's basketball coach at Marquette University.
Early life and playing career
Smart grew up in Oregon, Wisconsin. In high school, Sm ...
, helping the
Rams
In engineering, RAMS (reliability, availability, maintainability and safety)2012 NCAA tournament after upsetting #5 seed Wichita State in the 2nd round. Coach Christian also helped the rams to a 2012 CAA Tournament championship and finished 2011β12 season with the most wins in school history (29).
Head coaching career
Mount St. Mary's hired Christian as head coach on March 26, 2012. Christian implemented an up-tempo offense and βmayhemβ defense, comparable to VCU's "havoc" defense popularized by Shaka Smart. After his first season at the helm, Christian was named finalist for the 2013 Joe B. Hall Award, presented to the top first-year head coach in Division 1.
During the 2012β13 season, the Mountaineers qualified for the NEC tournament. As a No. 5 seed, Mount St. Mary's upset Bryant and Robert Morris, but lost to
Long Island University
Long Island University (LIU) is a private university with two main campuses, LIU Post and LIU Brooklyn, in the U.S. state of New York. It offers more than 500 academic programs at its main campuses, online, and at multiple non-residential. LIU ...
in the championship game. During the 2013β14 season, the Mountaineers won the NEC tournament and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, their first appearance since 2008.
Christian was also responsible for overseeing development of Rashad Whack (2014 NEC Tournament MVP and 2nd Team All-NEC; 2013 NEC All-Tournament Team), Julian Norfleet (2014 NEC All-Tournament Team and 2nd Team All-NEC), Sam Prescott (2014 NEC All-Tournament Team) and Shivaughn Wiggins (2013 NEC Rookie of the Year and CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Freshman of the Year).
On May 2, 2018, Christian replaced
Jimmy Patsos
James John Patsos (born October 1, 1966) is an American college basketball coach.
Patsos earned his B.A. from The Catholic University of America, Catholic University in 1989. There, he played basketball under Jack Bruen, who later coached Colgate ...
as the head coach at Siena. He guided the Saints to a nine-win turnaround from the previous year, finishing 17β16 overall and 11β7 in MAAC play, and a second place finish. It would be his only season on the job as he accepted the head coaching position at George Washington on March 21, 2019. Christian was fired from George Washington on March 14, 2022, after three seasons.