Jim Christian is an American college basketball

College basketball

College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....

 coach and the current head men's basketball coach at Texas Christian University

Texas Christian University

Texas Christian University is a private, coeducational university located in Fort Worth, Texas, United States and founded in 1873. TCU is affiliated with, but not governed by, the Disciples of Christ...

. He took over the position vacated by Neil Dougherty

Neil Dougherty

Cornelius Aaron "Neil" Dougherty was an American basketball coach, most recently the head coach at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas...

 in March 2008. Prior to taking over at TCU, Christian was head coach at Kent State University

Kent State University

Kent State University is a public research university located in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university has eight campuses around the northeast Ohio region with the main campus in Kent being the largest...

 from 2002 to 2008, where he led the Golden Flashes

Kent State Golden Flashes men's basketball

The Kent State Golden Flashes men's basketball team represents Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. The Golden Flashes compete in the Mid-American Conference East Division and last played in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament in 2008...

 to six consecutive seasons of twenty or more wins, four MAC

Mid-American Conference

The Mid-American Conference is a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I college athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twelve full member schools are in Ohio and Michigan, with single members...

 East division titles, two overall MAC titles, and two conference tournament championships. His teams also had five post-season appearances, three in the NIT

National Invitation Tournament

The National Invitation Tournament is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. There are two NIT events each season. The first, played in November and known as the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off , was founded in 1985...

 and two in the NCAA Tournament. His record at Kent State was 137–59.

As A Player

A native of Bethpage, New York, Christian was an all-state guard at St. Dominic High School while playing under Ralph Willard

Ralph Willard

Ralph Willard is the former men's head basketball coach at the College of the Holy Cross, a member of the NCAA Patriot League in Worcester, Massachusetts. He held this position from 1999 to 2009 and was the 14th head coach in the 88-year history of Holy Cross basketball. Willard was also an...

 who later was the head coach at Western Kentucky, Pitt and Holy Cross. Following his prep career, Christian was recruited by current Louisville head men's basketball coach Rick Pitino

Rick Pitino

Rick Pitino is an American basketball coach. Since 2001, he has been the head coach at the University of Louisville. He has also served as head coach at Boston University, Providence College and the University of Kentucky, leading that program to the NCAA championship in 1996...

 at Boston University where he played two seasons before transferring to Rhode Island.

Christian played his final two campaigns under Tom Penders

Tom Penders

Tom Penders is a retired college basketball head coach, who last coached from 2004 through 2010 at the University of Houston. He is from Stratford, Connecticut and has a 648-438 career record...

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 for the right to advance to the Elite Eight.

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

Head coaching record

2002-2003 Kent State 21-10

2003-2004 Kent State 22-9

2004-2005 Kent State 20-13

2005-2006 Kent State 25-9 NCAA First Round

2006-2007 Kent State 21-11

2007-2008 Kent State 28-7 NCAA First Round

Kent State 138-58

2008-2009 TCU 14-17

2009-2010 TCU 13-19

2010-2011 TCU 11-22

TCU 38-58