Jim Christian

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Jim Christian
Sport(s) Basketball
Current position
Title Head coach
Team Boston College
Conference ACC
Record 20-44 (.313)
Biographical details
Born (1965-02-06) February 6, 1965 (age 59)
Bethpage, New York
Playing career
1983–1985 Boston University
1986–1988 Rhode Island
1988–1989 Sydney City Comets (ABA)
Position(s) Guard
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1990–1992 Western Kentucky (asst.)
1992–1994 Saint Francis (PA) (asst.)
1994–1995 Western Kentucky (asst.)
1995–1996 Miami (OH) (asst.)
1996–1999 Pittsburgh (asst.)
2001–2002 Kent State (asst.)
2002–2008 Kent State
2008–2012 TCU
2012–2014 Ohio
2014–present Boston College
Head coaching record
Overall 262–197 (.571)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
MAC Tournament championship (2006, 2008)
MAC East Division championship (2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2013)
Awards
2× MAC Coach of the Year (2006, 2008)

James Patrick Christian[1] (born February 6, 1965) is an American college basketball coach who is currently the head coach of the Boston College men's basketball team. He previously held the same position at Kent State, TCU and Ohio.

Christian and his wife, Patty (an Ohio University Alum), were married in the summer of 2005, and have three children, MacKenzie, Zach and Jay.

Playing career

James Patrick Christian was born in Bethpage, New York. He was an all-state guard at St. Dominic High School in nearby Oyster Bay while playing under Ralph Willard, who later was the head coach at Western Kentucky, Pittsburgh, and Holy Cross. Following his prep career, Christian was recruited by current Louisville head men's basketball coach Rick Pitino at Boston University where he played two seasons before transferring to the University of Rhode Island.

Christian played his final two campaigns under Tom Penders 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 to victories over Missouri and Syracuse before dropping a 73–72 decision to Duke in the Sweet 16 round.

After earning his bachelor's degree in consumer affairs from the University of Rhode Island in 1988, Christian spent one season playing professionally in the Australian Basketball Association for the Sydney City Comets.

Coaching career

After returning to the United States, Christian became the Western Kentucky University Hilltoppers' assistant coach under head coach Ralph Willard from 1990 to 1992. From there, Christian went on to assist head coaches Tom McConnell at Saint Francis University (1992–1994), Matt Kilcullen again at Western Kentucky University (1994–1995), Herb Sendek at Miami University (1995–1996), Ralph Willard at University of Pittsburgh (1996–1999), and Stan Heath at Kent State University (2001–2002).

Kent State University

After assisting former head coach Stan Heath in the 2001–2002 season, Christian became head coach at Kent State University 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.[2]

Texas Christian University

At Texas Christian University, Christian took over the position vacated by Neil Dougherty 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.[3]

Ohio University

On Tuesday, April 3, 2012, Christian was named the new head basketball coach in Athens, becoming Ohio's 17th head coach, after former head coach John Groce left for University of Illinois.

In Christian's first year, he and 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 1993–1994.[4] 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 46–65 in the MAC Championships, losing a bid to the NCAA tournament.[5] However, Ohio earned an at-large bid in the 2013 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 at Boston College, replacing Steve Donahue.[7]

Head coaching record

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 1st Round
2003–04 Kent State 22–9 13–5 1st (East) NIT 1st Round
2004–05 Kent State 20–13 11–7 T–2nd (East) NIT 1st Round
2005–06 Kent State 25–9 15–3 1st (East) NCAA 1st Round
2006–07 Kent State 21–11 12–4 2nd (East)
2007–08 Kent State 28–7 13–3 1st (East) NCAA 1st Round
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 Quarterfinals
TCU: 56–73 (.434) 18–44 (.290)
Ohio Bobcats (Mid-American Conference) (2012–2014)
2012–13 Ohio 24–10 14–2 T-1st NIT 1st Round
2013–14 Ohio 25–11 11–7 3rd (East) CIT Quarterfinals
Ohio: 49–21 (.700) 25–9 (.735)
Boston College (Atlantic Coast Conference) (2014–Present)
2014–15 Boston College 13–19 4–14 13th
2015–16 Boston College 7–25 0–18 15th
Boston College: 20–44 (.313) 4–32 (.111)
Total: 262–197 (.571)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

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