Jim Christian Position: Head Coach | 4th Season Alma Mater: University of Rhode Island | 1988

Jim Christian has completed three seasons as men's basketball head coach at TCU after serving six years at Mid-American Conference member Kent State.

Christian was introduced to the Dallas/Fort Worth community on March 29th, 2008, as the 19th head coach in TCU history. In front of representatives of the TCU athletics department, campus leaders, media members and lifelong Frog supporters, former TCU Athletics Director Dr. Danny Morrison described Christian as a "slam dunk" in finding the right person to lead the program.

The introduction of Christian was made with praise not only around the DFW Metroplex, but also around the nation as Mike Huguenin of Rivals.com stated that "Christian is the best hire of 2008 in college basketball." ESPN College Basketball Analyst Jay Bilas stated, "When you watch Christian's team play, you see just how good of a coach he really is. I have been surprised that someone hasn't plucked him out of Kent State sooner, but this was a tremendous hire by TCU and one that will pay dividends for them in the near future."

After three seasons at the helm, those who stood in the John S. Justin Athletics Complex that afternoon know that Christian was exactly the right person to change the direction of the Frogs' program. Christian promised a change in attitude, change in intensity, and most importantly, a change in the culture of TCU men's basketball. Those who have watched the Purple and White over the last three seasons realize that, despite the overall record, Christian has the Frogs on the path to turnaround.

In his first three seasons, Christian has guided the Frogs to a combined 38-58 overall record, including a 14-17 overall record during his first campaign. The 14 triumphs accumulated by Christian were the fourth-most wins by a first-year had coach in program history and almost doubled the averaged amount of victories of 7.3 wins for a head coach at TCU in his inaugural season.

Christian has continued to add pieces to the puzzle over the last three seasons, with the goal of finding the right mix of talent and attitude for the TCU program. Among the standouts in the Christian era have been four All-Mountain West Conference honorees, including second-team selections in Ronnie Moss (2009-10) and Kevin Langford (2008-09) and third teamer Hank Thorns (2010-11). Zvonko Buljan was named MWC Newcomer of the Year in 2008-09 and honorable-mention All-MWC twice during his two seasons on campus.

Those who watched a young Frog squad cut its teeth in 2010-11 were able to see a direction beginning to take shape in the program. Thorns, a transfer to the Frog program from Virginia Tech, produced one of the top seasons ever for a TCU point guard in 2010-11, as he finished as the only individual ranked among the nation's top-12 players in both assists per game (No. 4) and assist-turnover ratio (No. 12). His 225 helpers ranked No. 2 in MWC single-season history and No. 3 for top outputs by a Frog. Thorns also averaged scoring in double figures, and his 342 total points ranked second on the squad to only teammate Garlon Green.

Thorns helped lead a young corps of Frogs that should form a base on which to build the program's future success. TCU saw a huge jump in the game of Green, who totaled 11.2 points per game while shooting 48.4 percent from the field as a sophomore. Green's 47.6 percent shooting rate from 3-point range would have led the MWC in the category if for not falling only one trey shy of meeting the minimum qualification for baskets made. Nikola Cerina, who experienced a slump to start ofF his sophomore campaign, began to round into form by year's end, averaging nearly a double-double over TCU's final four contests.

Several Frogs impressed in their first seasons on campus, including J.R. Cadot, the team's leader in both rebounding and field-goal percentage who finished the season by scoring in double figures in seven of the last eight games. Amric Fields proved to be one of the MWC's top young players, finishing No. 2 among league freshmen in scoring and rebounding, while fellow freshman Jarvis Ray showed glimpses of the potential that made him an all-state honoree as a prep standout in Louisiana.

Perhaps the top individual season during TCU's Jim Christian era career came from Moss' sophomore campaign in 2008-09, as he became the first Frog to lead the team in both scoring (14.9 per game) and assists (5.9 per game) in nearly a decade since former great Corey Santee (2001-02). His assist numbers ranked him among the nation's leaders, while he also led the MWC in the category. By the end of his junior season, Moss had become only the fifth player in program history to amass 1,000 points and 300 assists in a career.

To begin his tenure at TCU, Christian became the third coach in program history to win his first game as head coach with the Frogs after TCU defeated Western Michigan by a 67-63 count at the ESPN Charleston Classic. Christian guided the Frogs to some big victories during the 2008-09 campaign, including home triumphs over Wichita State, UNLV, SMU, Colorado State and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The victory over UNLV was the Frogs' first win over the Runnin' Rebels since the 1998-99 season - a span of eight games.

Opposing teams found out very quickly that the Frogs' hard-nosed defensive mentality would become their calling card during games. During a three-game stretch, the Frogs held SMU, St. Gregory's (Okla.) and Colorado to 46 or fewer points, which marked the first time since the 1951-52 season that this feat had been achieved. The Frogs also held St. Gregory's and Colgate to 40 of fewer points in a game, allowing 38 and 37 points - respectively.

The Frogs proved that they could put together a string of victories during the season as TCU notched their first six-game winning streak since the 1998-99 campaign and also recorded nine consecutive victories at the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum for the first time in over a decade.

Langford became one of Christian's most memorable and prized players despite only coaching him for one season. He began to lay the foundation for the Frogs' path to a championship with his leadership and influence on and off the court. It became very apparent to those who watched Christian wander the Frogs' bench that there was a new attitude surrounding the program.

The Kent State Days
Christian came to TCU after serving as the head men's basketball coach at Kent State for six seasons where he won at least 20 games in each campaign. During his tenure, Christian collected a record of 138-58 for the highest-winning percentage (.704) in Mid-American Conference history.

In his six seasons as head coach of the Golden Flashes, Christian climbed to second place on the all-time career victories list at Kent State with 138, which was only 10 triumphs shy of the 148 wins set by Jim McDonald. It took McDonald over a decade to record 148 victories, where Christian was on-pace to break that mark early in his seventh season as head coach.

Under the guidance and leadership of Christian, the Golden Flashes garnered five post-season appearances in six campaigns, including a pair of trips to the NCAA Tournament in 2006 and 2008. Not only was the former Kent State head coach selected as the Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year in two of his final three seasons, but Christian also led his team to its first-ever top-25 ranking after peaking at 23rd in the nation in the Associated Press poll and 24th in the ESPN/USA Today poll.

While the Golden Flashes excelled in non-conference action, Christian's teams saved their best games for Mid-American Conference opponents as Kent State recorded a 79-28 record (.738 winning percentage) while never finishing lower than second in the East Division during his six-year tenure. Over the course of his final three seasons, Christian led the Golden Flashes to a 40-10 (.800 winning percentage) conference mark, including a pair of Mid-American Conference Tournament Championships.

Christian's teams provided headaches for all opponents, but none more than those that stepped onto the floor of the M.A.C. Center (Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center). In his time as head coach, the Golden Flashes recorded a 71-14 (.835 winning percentage) advantage on their home floor, which included a perfect 16-0 record during the 2007-08 campaign.

In each of his six seasons, the Golden Flashes notched at least nine victories at home to go along with 11 or more triumphs in his final five campaigns. Christian's teams notched a record of 62-9 (.873 winning percentage) and were one of 11 teams in the country to finish the regular season undefeated on their home court. Kent State ended the 2007-08 campaign with the 10th-longest home court winning streak in the nation, including 24 of its final 25 home contests with Christian at the helm.

Christian's numbers stand among some of the top collegiate coaches in the country as he ended the 2007-08 campaign ranked third among all active coaches who recorded at least 20 victories in every season as a head coach, joining Mark Few (9; Gonzaga) and Thad Matta (7; Butler, Xavier, Ohio State). Kent State was also one of six schools in the nation to record 10 consecutive seasons of 20 or more victories, joining Duke, Kansas, Florida, Gonzaga and Creighton, with seven of those teams coming with Christian on the staff.

The 2007-08 campaign presented itself with one of the greatest seasons in the history of Kent State men's basketball. The Golden Flashes finished with a 28-7 overall record, including a school-record 25 regular- season triumphs, en route to securing their second Mid-American Conference regular-season and tournament crowns. For the second time in the three seasons, Christian guided the Golden Flashes to a berth in the NCAA Tournament where Kent State recorded a ninth-seed, which was the highest seed in program history.

In addition, Christian led the Golden Flashes to their second-most victories in program history with 28 that only trailed the 2001-02 squad that finished with a 30-6 overall record and advanced to the Elite Eight under former coach Stan Heath. Christian, who became the first coach in Mid-American Conference history to win 20 or more games in each of his first six seasons, was recognized as the Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year. He joined Gary Waters as the only two coaches in Kent State history to collect that hardware on two occasions.

Christian's time as Kent State head coach was highlighted by numerous individual standouts, including two honorable-mention All-Americans (Antonio Gates, DeAndre Haynes), two MAC Players of the Year (DeAndre Haynes, Al Fisher), three MAC Defensive Players of the Year (Demetric Shaw, John Edwards, Haminn Quaintance), one MAC Sixth Man of the Year (Kevin Warzynski) and a total of 19 All-MAC selections, including six first teamers.

Among Christian's all-conference picks was Gates, now an All-Pro tight end for the San Diego Chargers, as well as two-time honoree Eric Haut, who followed Christian to TCU as Director of Operations and is now an assistant coach. Armon Gates, an academic All-MAC selection, also joined Christian's staff, completing his first season as an assistant in 2011.

Following a short time off the coaching circuit, Christian returned to the college courts in 2001-02 as the top assistant under former Kent State and current University of South Florida head men's basketball coach Stan Heath for a record-breaking season for the Golden Flashes. Kent State notched a school-record 30 victories en route to capturing the program's first regular-season Mid-American Conference title following a 17-1 mark.

In the NCAA Tournament, the Golden Flashes defeated Oklahoma State in the first round before handing Alabama a 71-58 setback in the second round. In the Sweet Sixteen, the Golden Flashes defeated Pitt by a 78-73 score, making them the first MAC program to reach the Elite Eight since 1964. In the South Regional Championships, Kent State suffered an 81-69 setback to national runner-up Indiana.

During the 2001-02 campaign, Kent State rallied off a conference-record 21 consecutive victories before falling in the NCAA Tournament to Indiana while capturing the conference title by a record five games. With plenty of team success during the 2001-02 campaign came individual recognition as Demetric Shaw was selected as the MAC Defensive Player of the Year while Trevor Huffman and Andrew Mitchell were both selected as first team All-Mid-American Conference award winners.

Following the season, Heath moved on as the head coach at Arkansas, which created Christian's first opportunity to lead a college program.

The Octagon Days
Prior to joining the Kent State coaching staff, Christian spent two years with Octagon Sports Marketing and Management in McLean, Va., as a college basketball talent evaluator. During his time with Octagon Sports Marketing and Management, Christian worked with over 20 NBA standouts where he conducted individual workouts with talents, including current NBA players Brendan Haywood, Jacque Vaughn and Chris Mihm.

The Pitt Days
Christian spent three seasons at Big East member Pittsburgh, where he served as an assistant coach under his former high school coach Ralph Willard, who is currently an assistant coach under Rick Pitino at Louisville. During his time, Christian aided the development of Vonteego Cummings, who was a two-time All-Big East Conference award winner and former NBA talent for the Philadelphia 76ers and Golden State Warriors.

The Miami (Ohio) Days
Christian served as an assistant coach under former Miami (Ohio) and current Arizona State head men's basketball coach Herb Sendek during the 1995-96 campaign. The coaching staff put together by Sendek that season served as an all-star cast almost a decade later with three current NCAA Division I head coaches coming from that program in Christian, Sean Miller (Arizona) and Charlie Coles (Miami, Ohio) In his single season, the RedHawks recorded a 21-8 overall record, including a 12-6 mark in conference action. The RedHawks earned a berth in the National Invitation Tournament during the 1995-96 season.

The Western Kentucky Days
Christian notched a pair of stops in Bowling Green, Ky., as a member of the Western Kentucky men's basketball program. Christian got his first taste of collegiate coaching under Willard as a part-time assistant coach for two campaigns. In his first two seasons, Western Kentucky notched a 35-25 record, including a 21-11 overall record during the 1991-92 campaign.

Christian returned to the Hilltoppers for the 1994-95 campaign where he helped Western Kentucky post a 27-4 overall record, including a 17-1 record in Sun Belt Conference action. That season, Western Kentucky recorded the fourth-most victories in program history to go along with crowns in both the regular-season and tournament championships en route to securing a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

The St. Francis (Pa.) Days
Christian's first full-time assistant coaching position came at St. Francis (Pa.) - a member of the Northeast Conference - under Tom McConnell. In his two seasons with the Red Flashes, Christian guided the development of two-time All-Northeast Conference performer Deon George and Jason Roberts.

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

Off the Court
Christian and his wife, Patty, were married in the summer of 2005, and has three children, MacKenzie, Zach and Jay. The Christian family currently resides in Fort Worth.

JIM CHRISTIAN YEAR-BY-YEAR

* Regular-season champion
^ Tournament champion