James Patrick Christian (born February 6, 1965), known professionally as Jim Christian, 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 Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

who most recently served as the head coach of the Boston College men's basketball team. He previously held the same position at

Kent State Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in Ash ...

TCU TCU may stand for: Education * Tanzania Commission for Universities, regulatory body for Universities in Tanzania * Texas Christian University, a private university in Fort Worth, Texas ** TCU Horned Frogs, the athletic programs of the school * Tok ...

and

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. On April 25, 2018, Christian signed a two-year contract extension to remain at Boston College through the 2021–22 season. He was relieved of his duties on February 15, 2021.

Playing career

James Patrick Christian was born in

Bethpage, New York Bethpage (formerly known as Central Park) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 16,429 at the 2010 United States Cen ...

. He was an all-state guard at St. Dominic High School in nearby Oyster Bay while playing under

Ralph Willard Ralph Daniel Willard (born March 28, 1946) is an American former basketball coach. He served as the head men's basketball coach at Western Kentucky University from 1990 to 1994, the University of Pittsburgh from 1994 to 1999, and the College of ...

, who later was the head coach at

Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogniz ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, and Holy Cross. Following his prep career, Christian was recruited by coach

Rick Pitino Richard Andrew Pitino (born September 18, 1952) is an American college basketball coach who is the head coach for Iona College. He was also the head coach of Greece's senior national team. He has been the head coach of several teams in NCAA D ...

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

where he played two seasons before transferring to the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of the state of Rhode Island ...

. Both Willard and Pitino also attended St. Dominic High School. Christian played his final two campaigns under

Tom Penders Thomas Vincent Penders (born May 23, 1945) is an American retired college basketball coach, who last coached from 2004 through 2010 at the University of Houston. He is from Stratford, Connecticut and has a 649–437 career record. As a college ath ...

at the University of Rhode Island, where he helped the Rams reach the Sweet Sixteen of the 1988 NCAA tournament. The former standout guard guided the

Rams In engineering, RAMS (reliability, availability, maintainability and safety)Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

and

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

before dropping a 73–72 decision to

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

in the Sweet 16 round. After earning his bachelor's degree in

consumer affairs Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent business ...

from the University of Rhode Island in 1988, Christian spent one season playing professionally in the

Australian Basketball Association The Australian Basketball Association (ABA) was a semi-professional basketball entity based in Australia. The ABA was Australia's biggest basketball competition for many years. With over 120 teams participating across five leagues and six states ...

for the Sydney City Comets.

Coaching career

After returning to the United States, Christian became the

Western Kentucky University Western Kentucky University is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It was founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a quarter-century earlier. It operates regional campuses in Glasgow, Elizabethtow ...

Hilltoppers' assistant coach under head coach

from 1990 to 1992. From there, Christian went on to assist head coaches Tom McConnell at

Saint Francis University Saint Francis University (SFU) is a private Catholic university in Loretto, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1847 and conducted under the tradition of the Franciscan Friars of the Third Order Regular. The university is situated on in the fore ...

(1992–1994),

Matt Kilcullen Matt Kilcullen (born October 31, 1954) is an American Director of Athletics at Mercy College (New York), Mercy College, formerly college basketball coach and athletics administrator at the University of North Florida. He served as head coach of men ...

again at

(1994–1995),

Herb Sendek Herbert Joseph Sendek Jr. (born February 22, 1963) is an American college basketball coach who is the current men's basketball head coach at Santa Clara. Early life Herbert Joseph Sendek, Jr. of Slovak descent, grew up in Pittsburgh and attended ...

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the 10 ...

(1995–1996),

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

(1996–1999), and

Stan Heath Stanley Heath III (born December 17, 1964) is an American basketball coach currently serving as the head coach for Eastern Michigan. Heath formerly served as head coach at the University of South Florida, the University of Arkansas and Kent State ...

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in As ...

(2001–2002).

Kent State

After assisting former head coach

in the 2001–02 season, Christian became head coach at

from 2002 to 2008, where he led the Golden Flashes to six consecutive seasons of twenty or more wins, four MAC East division titles, two overall MAC titles, and two conference tournament championships. His teams also had five post-season appearances, three in the NIT and two in the NCAA Tournament. His record at Kent State was 137–59.

TCU

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples ...

, Christian took over the position vacated by

Neil Dougherty Cornelius Aaron "Neil" Dougherty (April 14, 1961 – July 5, 2011) was an American basketball coach, most recently the head coach at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. Dougherty played basketball at West Point for two years under c ...

in March 2008. In Christian's final year coaching the Horned 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.

Ohio

On Tuesday, April 3, 2012, Christian was named the new head basketball coach at

, becoming the program's 17th head coach, after former head coach

John Groce John Gordon Groce (; born September 7, 1971) is an American college basketball coach, currently the head coach for the Akron Zips men's basketball team. Prior to coaching for Akron, he was the head coach at Illinois and Ohio. Coaching career P ...

left for

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. 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 since

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

. Ohio earned themselves a No. 2 seed in the MAC 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 the NCAA tournament. However, Ohio earned an

at-large bid A wild card (also wildcard or wild-card and also known as an at-large berth or at-large bid) is a tournament or playoff berth awarded to an individual or team that fails to qualify in the normal way; for example, by having a high ranking or winnin ...

in the 2013 NIT tournament as a number 6 seed in the Alabama quadrant. On April 3, 2014, Christian resigned his position at Ohio to become the head coach at

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

, replacing

Steve Donahue Steve Donahue (born May 21, 1962) is an American college basketball coach, currently the head coach of the Penn Quakers men's basketball team. He is the former head coach of Boston College and Cornell Cornell University is a private statuto ...

Boston College

On April 3, 2014, Jim Christian was named the Head Coach at Boston College. Under Christian, the Red 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. In 7 and a half seasons, Jim Christian was 78-132 overall, 26-94 in conference play.

Return to Kent State

On June 21, 2022, Jim Christian returned to Kent State as the Assistant Athletic Director.

Personal life

Christian and his wife, Patty, were married in the summer of 2005, and have three children, MacKenzie, Zach, and Jay.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Boston College profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Christian, Jim 1965 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Australia American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from New York (state) Boston College Eagles men's basketball coaches Boston University Terriers men's basketball players College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Guards (basketball) Kent State Golden Flashes men's basketball coaches Miami RedHawks men's basketball coaches Ohio Bobcats men's basketball coaches People from Bethpage, New York Basketball players from Nassau County, New York Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball coaches Rhode Island Rams men's basketball players Saint Francis Red Flash men's basketball coaches TCU Horned Frogs men's basketball coaches Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball coaches