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.
After assisting former head coach Stan Heath in the 2001–02 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]
TCU
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
On Tuesday, April 3, 2012, Christian was named the new head basketball coach at Ohio, becoming the program's 17th head coach, after former head coach John Groce left for Illinois.
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.[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 65–46 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]
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+1⁄2 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.
Canisius
On April 8, 2024, Christian was named head coach at Canisius.[8][9]
Personal life
Christian and his wife, Patty, were married in the summer of 2005, and have three children, MacKenzie, Zach, and Jay.
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
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