- Jamion Christian has been named the 10th head coach in Bryant men’s basketball history.
- Christian was most recently coaching Pallacanestro Trieste of the Italian Professional Basketball League.
- Christian replaces Phil Martelli Jr., who left Bryant to take the head coaching job at VCU.
SMITHFIELD — The interest was mutual and the negotiations were seamless.
Bill Smith had a candidate in mind when the Bryant men’s basketball head coaching position opened. Jamion Christian was always a target for Smith, Bryant’s vice president of athletics, as a potential bench boss for the Bulldogs.
How did Bryant find Jamion Christian?
Smith and Christian crossed paths when the new Bryant coach was an upstart leader for Mount St. Mary’s University for six seasons. Bryant, then playing in the Northeast Conference, saw Christian lead the Mount to the NCAA Tournament in 2017.
Smith was smitten with Christian’s teams, known for 3-point shooting and havoc defense. And, thankfully for Bryant, Christian was equally intrigued by the Bulldog opening. Christian texted Smith quickly after the news spread that former coach Phil Martelli Jr. was departing for Virginia Commonwealth University.
After a quick hiring process, Smith introduced Christian as the 10th head coach in program history on Friday morning in the Quinlan/Brown Academic Innovation Center.
“The second text I got was from [Christian],” Smith said. “I was pumped up because I’ve always had my eye on him. I’ve always told him, that he does great things to the program and really great things for the young men. You have to have hope, and you’ve got to rebound real quickly, and in this case, I knew that we already had one incredible candidate and that candidate was already strongly interested in the job.”
Where is Jamion Christian coaching now?
Christian is currently coaching the Pallacanestro Trieste of the Italian Professional Basketball League. The 42-year-old will finish out the season in Italy’s top league before joining Bryant full-time.
“It’s an opportunity that you just don’t know if it’s going to present itself,” Christian said of Bryant. “And when that sort of thing presents itself, we’ve got to go all in, and that’s what we tried to do with this opportunity. It feels surreal, because two days ago I was going to practice in Italy and today I’m here having a press conference, and I’ll go back on Sunday.”
John Ruppert, Bryant’s deputy director of athletics, assisted Smith in the hiring process. The two identified Christian and advanced with an interview.
“This is one of those situations where you have to move quickly, given the time of the year and the men’s basketball portal being open,” Smith said. “[Ruppert] knows what I’m thinking and I know what he’s thinking, so we’ve done this a number of times with each other. We went to work to try to get it wrapped up as quickly as possible and land the best candidate that we could, and we did.”
Christian excited about returning to NCAA basketball
Christian returns to the college ranks after head coaching stops at George Washington University and Siena College. It’s a callback to his roots that also includes a Sweet 16 appearance as an assistant coach under Shaka Smart at VCU in 2012.
“I love college basketball and the thrill of tournaments,” Christian said. “The energy in the tournament, to me, there’s just nothing like it. And we have incredible fan support … where I’m at now. Incredible fans, but there’s just a passion to college basketball. I love working with young people, helping young people improve themselves and helping them have a vision for the future.
“I owe so much to [Smart]. He’s a guy that really helped me learn how to be myself in front of a team and how powerful it could be just genuinely being who you are. We’ll talk a lot through the years about different problems that may present themselves, but it’s amazing how many problems can be solved by being who you are.”
Christian has a quick turnaround, with the transfer portal in full swing. Barry Evans, Bryant’s third-leading scorer from this past year, committed to VCU on Friday. And there will be more movement around the country in the following weeks.
“Having been a head coach for as long as I have, it’s just having empathy for the people in that locker room,” Christian said. “It’s really hard watching friends come in and make decisions to leave. That’s a tough thing to be a part of, so just have great empathy for people in the locker room and just try to give them a similar plan and what it looks like in the future. The portal is a part of our life now.”
