Jamion Christian
{{Short description|American basketball coach (born 1982)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2013}}
{{Infobox college coach
| name = Jamion Christian
| image = File:Jamion Christian.JPG
| alt =
| caption = Christian in 2016
| current_title = Head coach
| current_team = Bryant
| current_conference = America East
| current_record = {{Winning percentage|0|0|record=y}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1982|4|18}}
| birth_place = Quinton, Virginia, U.S.
| player_years1 = 2000–2003
| player_team1 = Mount St. Mary's
| player_positions = Guard
| overall_record = {{winpct|147|161|record=y}}
| tournament_record = 1–2 (NCAA Division I)
| coach_years1 = 2004–2006
| coach_team1 = Emory and Henry (assistant)
| coach_years2 = 2006–2008
| coach_team2 = Bucknell (operations)
| coach_years3 = 2008–2011
| coach_team3 = William & Mary (assistant)
| coach_years4 = 2011–2012
| coach_team4 = VCU (assistant)
| coach_years5 = 2012–2018
| coach_team5 = Mount St. Mary's
| coach_years6 = 2018–2019
| coach_team6 = Siena
| coach_years7 = 2019–2022
| coach_team7 = George Washington
| coach_years8 = 2023–2025
| coach_team8 = Pallacanestro Trieste
| coach_years9 = 2025–present
| coach_team9 = Bryant
| championships= * LNP Serie A2 Champion (2024)
- 2× NEC tournament (2014, 2017)
- NEC regular season (2017)
|awards=
- NEC Coach of the Year (2017)
- Ben Jobe Award (2017)
}}
Jamion Christian (born April 18, 1982) is an American basketball coach. He is currently the head coach of the Bryant Bulldogs men's basketball team. He previously was the head coach at Siena, Mount St. Mary's, and George Washington.{{cite web|url=https://sienasaints.com/roster.aspx?path=mbball|title=2018–19 Men's Basketball Roster|website=Siena College Athletics}} He was also the head coach for Pallacanestro Trieste in the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) from 2023 to 2025.
Biography
Christian was born and raised in Quinton, Virginia. As a shooting guard, he led New Kent High School to a Virginia High School League State Championship with a 26–0 record and earned the VHSL Group A State Player of the Year honors. Christian then became a shooting guard and a three-year captain for Mount St. Mary's under head coaches Jim Phelan and Milan Brown. Christian has a strong pedigree in athletics, Christian's father, John, was a standout track athlete at Virginia State University. The elder Christian is in the Virginia State University Hall of Fame and is a retired Head Coach of the Charles City County High School Track & Field team. His mother was middle school teacher for New Kent County.
His brother Jarell Christian, is currently the General Manager of the Maine Celtics in the NBA G League.
= Assistant coaching career =
Christian began his coaching career as an assistant at Emory and Henry College (2004–06), Bucknell (2006–08) and then William & Mary (2008–11). While with Coach Shaver and the Tribe, Christian recruited two of the most successful players in Tribe history: Brandon Britt and Marcus Thornton.
Christian then served as an assistant at Virginia Commonwealth (2011–12) under head coach Shaka Smart, helping the Rams to the third round of the 2012 NCAA tournament after upsetting #5 seed Wichita State in the 2nd round. Coach Christian also helped the rams to a 2012 CAA Tournament championship and finished 2011–12 season with the most wins in school history (29).
= Head coaching career =
Mount St. Mary's hired Christian as head coach on March 26, 2012. Christian implemented an up-tempo offense and “mayhem” defense, comparable to VCU's "havoc" defense popularized by Shaka Smart. After his first season at the helm, Christian was named finalist for the 2013 Joe B. Hall Award, presented to the top first-year head coach in Division 1.
During the 2012–13 season, the Mountaineers qualified for the NEC tournament. As a No. 5 seed, Mount St. Mary's upset Bryant and Robert Morris, but lost to Long Island University in the championship game.{{cite web|url=http://www.northeastconference.org/news/2013/3/9/MBB_SemiRecaps_13.aspx|title=Upset Saturday! LIU Brooklyn & Mount St. Mary's Advance To NEC Men's Basketball Title Game|website=Northeast Conference}} During the 2013–14 season, the Mountaineers won the NEC tournament and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, their first appearance since 2008.
Christian was also responsible for overseeing development of Rashad Whack (2014 NEC Tournament MVP and 2nd Team All-NEC; 2013 NEC All-Tournament Team), Julian Norfleet (2014 NEC All-Tournament Team and 2nd Team All-NEC), Sam Prescott (2014 NEC All-Tournament Team) and Shivaughn Wiggins (2013 NEC Rookie of the Year and CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Freshman of the Year).
On May 2, 2018, Christian replaced Jimmy Patsos as the head coach at Siena.{{cite web|url=https://sienasaints.com/news/2018/5/2/Jamion_Christian_Named_Siena_Basketball_Head_Coach.aspx|title=Jamion Christian Named Siena Basketball Head Coach|website=Siena College Athletics|date=May 2, 2018 }} He guided the Saints to a nine-win turnaround from the previous year, finishing 17–16 overall and 11–7 in MAAC play, and a second-place finish. It would be his only season on the job as he accepted the head coaching position at George Washington on March 21, 2019. Christian was fired from George Washington on March 14, 2022, after three seasons.{{cite news |last1=Borzello |first1=Jeff |title=George Washington men's basketball coach Jamion Christian out after 3 seasons |url=https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/33501848/sources-george-washington-men-basketball-coach-jamion-christian-3-seasons |access-date=March 14, 2022 |work=ESPN |date=March 14, 2022}}
In July 2023, Christian accepted a job offer from Italy and became head coach of Pallacanestro Trieste.{{Cite web |date=2023-07-11 |title=Pallacanestro Trieste annuncia l'head coach: è l'americano Jamion Christian |url=https://www.pallacanestrotrieste.it/pallacanestro-trieste-annuncia-lhead-coach-e-lamericano-jamion-christian/ |access-date=2024-11-03 |website=Pallacanestro Trieste |language=it}} He guided Trieste to a Serie A2 Championship in 2024 and thus to promotion to the country's top flight, Lega Basket Serie A.{{Cite web |title=Serie A2 Basketball 2023-2024 |url=https://www.eurobasket.com/Italy/basketball-League-Serie-A2_2023-2024.aspx |access-date=2024-11-03 |website=Eurobasket.com}}
On April 3, 2025, Christian was named the next head coach at Bryant, replacing Phil Martelli Jr..{{Cite web |title=It's official. Bryant University hires its next men's basketball coach. |url=https://www.providencejournal.com/story/sports/college/2025/04/03/bryant-university-hires-jamion-christian-as-mens-basketball-coach-ncaa-america-east/82790859007/ |access-date=2025-04-03 |website=The Providence Journal |language=en-US}}
Head coaching record
=College=
{{CBB Yearly Record Start | type = coach | conference = | postseason = | poll = }}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead
| name = Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers
| conference = Northeast Conference
| startyear = 2012
| endyear = 2018
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 2012–13
| name = Mount St. Mary's
| overall = 18–14
| conference = 11–7
| confstanding = T–5th
| postseason =
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship = conference tournament
| season = 2013–14
| name = Mount St. Mary's
| overall = 16–17
| conference = 9–7
| confstanding = 4th
| postseason = NCAA Division I First Four
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 2014–15
| name = Mount St. Mary's
| overall = 15–15
| conference = 11–7
| confstanding = 4th
| postseason =
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 2015–16
| name = Mount St. Mary's
| overall = 14–19
| conference = 10–8
| confstanding = 5th
| postseason =
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship = confboth
| season = 2016–17
| name = Mount St. Mary's
| overall = 20–16
| conference = 14–4
| confstanding = 1st
| postseason = NCAA Division I Round of 64
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 2017–18
| name = Mount St. Mary's
| overall = 18–14
| conference = 12–6
| confstanding = T–2nd
| postseason =
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subtotal
| name = Mount St. Mary's
| overall = {{Winning percentage|101|95|record=y}}
| confrecord = {{Winning percentage|67|39|record=y}}
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead
| name = Siena Saints
| conference = Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
| startyear = 2018
| endyear = 2019
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 2018–19
| name = Siena
| overall = 17–16
| conference = 11–7
| confstanding = T–2nd
| postseason =
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subtotal
| name = Siena
| overall = {{Winning percentage|17|16|record=y}}
| confrecord = {{Winning percentage|11|7|record=y}}
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead
| name = George Washington Colonials
| conference = Atlantic 10 Conference
| startyear = 2019
| endyear = 2022
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 2019–20
| name = George Washington
| overall = 12–20
| conference = 6–12
| confstanding = T–10th
| postseason =
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 2020–21
| name = George Washington
| overall = 5–12
| conference = 3–5
| confstanding = 11th
| postseason =
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 2021–22
| name = George Washington
| overall = 12–18
| conference = 8–9
| confstanding = 7th
| postseason =
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subtotal
| name = George Washington
| overall = {{Winning percentage|29|50|record=y}}
| confrecord = {{Winning percentage|17|26|record=y}}
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead
| name = Bryant Bulldogs
| conference = America East Conference
| startyear = 2025
| endyear =
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Entry
| championship =
| season = 2025–26
| name = Bryant
| overall = 0–0
| conference = 0–0
| confstanding =
| postseason =
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record Subtotal
| name = Bryant
| overall = {{Winning percentage|0|0|record=y}}
}}
{{CBB Yearly Record End
| overall = {{Winning percentage|147|161|record=y}}
}}
=Lega Basket=
{{Euroleague coach statistics start}}
|-! style="background:#FDE910;"
| style="text-align:left;"|Pallacanestro Trieste
| style="text-align:left;"|2023–24
| 42 || 27 || 15 || {{winpct|27|15}} || align="center"|Won Serie A2 championship
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|Pallacanestro Trieste
| style="text-align:left;"|2024–25
| 23 || 14 || 9 || {{winpct|14|9}} || align="center"|Missed playoffs
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career || 65 || 41 || 24 || {{winpct|41|24}}||
{{s-end}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Bryant Bulldogs men's basketball coach navbox}}
{{America East Conference men's basketball coach navbox}}
{{navboxes|list=
{{Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers men's basketball coach navbox}}
{{Siena Saints men's basketball coach navbox}}
{{George Washington Colonials men's basketball coach navbox}}
{{Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Coach of the Year navbox}}
{{Ben Jobe Award}}
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Christian, Jamion}}
Category:American expatriate basketball people in Italy
Category:American men's basketball coaches
Category:American men's basketball players
Category:Basketball coaches from Virginia
Category:Basketball players from Virginia
Category:College men's basketball head coaches in the United States
Category:George Washington Revolutionaries men's basketball coaches
Category:Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers men's basketball coaches
Category:Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers men's basketball players
Category:Pallacanestro Trieste coaches
Category:People from New Kent County, Virginia
Category:Siena Saints men's basketball coaches
Category:VCU Rams men's basketball coaches