Sports
Boston College Hires Ohio’s Christian As Head Coach
By: Seth Austin
Posted on:
Ohio head men's basketball coach Jim Christian is leaving the program to become the head coach at Boston College after just two seasons in Athens, the Athens Messenger's Jason Arkley is reporting.
Christian, who replaced John Groce in 2012, will be replacing Steve Donahue who was fired after an 8-24 season with the Eagles. In two seasons with the Bobcats, Christian went 49-22 leading Ohio to an NIT appearance in 2013 and a trip to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament quarterfinals this year. Christian's 2013-2014 squad became just the third team in program history to achieve 25 wins in a season.
Christian has ties to the Boston area playing at Boston University from 1983 until 1985 before transferring to Rhode Island to finish out his college career. Boston College Athletic Director Brad Bates has Mid-American Conference ties serving at Miami (Ohio) from 2002 until 2012. Before coming to Ohio, Christian spent six seasons as the head coach of Kent State with an overall record of 127-59.
Christian joined Ohio after a four year stint at Texas Christian where he went 56-73 and just 18-44 in Mountain West Conference play. Boston College finished 4-14 in Atlantic Coast Conference play this season placing them at second-to-last in the conference above Virginia Tech who have recently hired former Marquette coach Buzz Williams.
Christian was hired two years ago Wednesday. Ohio is now searching for their 18th coach in program history.