TCU introduces new men's basketball coach

The Horned Frogs' 19th head coach, known for toughness on defense, an up-tempo offense and developing young and unknown players, is ready to hit the ground running. In fact, practice is tomorrow.

By Rick Waters '95

He's a fast-talking, energetic Yankee whose dad walked a beat for New York City's finest for more than two decades. That's where Jim Christian, introduced Saturday as TCU's 19th men's head basketball coach, says he got his blue-collar, tough-nosed approach to coaching.

After six seasons at Kent State, he's bringing that style to TCU.

"I had a great job at Kent State, and in order to leave a job that really is special in your heart, I think you really have to try to find a place that, to me, represents the same thing I want in the players that I coach," said Christian, who donned a purple TCU baseball cap given to him by TCU Athletics Director Danny Morrison. "They want to work and there's a commitment to excellence. I see TCU as being a perfect fit for me and my family. We toured the facilities earlier and I see a place with untapped, unlimited potential."

Christian, 43, Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year two of the past three seasons, was 138-58 with at least 20 wins every year, including three NIT and two NCAA appearances. He's known for his toughness on defense, up-tempo offense and ability to develop players, two of whom - Antonio Gates and London Fletcher - have gone on to make the NFL All-Pro team.

This season, Kent State lost 71-58 to TCU's Mountain West Conference rival UNLV in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Kent State was at or near the top of nearly every statistical category in the Mid-American Conference this season, including first in field-goal percentage and second in scoring defense.

“Jim Christian is a proven head coach and a perfect fit for TCU,” Morrison said. “He was targeted early in the process, and we couldn’t be happier to have him as our men’s basketball coach.”

Christian said he was honored and excited to be at TCU.

He said he and his wife Patty took a 6 a.m. flight to get to Fort Worth this morning, and he saw a man on the plane looking at a newspaper with the headline, "KSU coach leaving for TCU." The man saw Christian eyeing the story and said, "Are you surprised about that?" The coach answered, "Well, I know him pretty well. He's leaving a really good job, so it must be a pretty good job he's heading to."

Christian had never been to the campus before. He said he had done his homework, talking to friends and coaches that knew TCU and Fort Worth. He said he heard all good things.

He said he will work out with the team tomorrow, just to get to know one another. "Actually, I'm ready to go work out right now," he joked.

He spoke of Texas as the most fertile recruiting state in the country, and while he'll bring at least one assistant with him to Fort Worth, he will look to hire at least one, possibly two, coaches that know Texas high school basketball better than he does.

"I'm not from Texas, but I will look to get coaches that can put me in the doorway of players in this state and have them get to know me."

He said he could relate well to players, especially in the situation of changing coaches. He was a player in the mid-1980s at Rhode Island and made the Sweet 16 in 1988 under Tom Penders. He counts Ralph WIllard, formerly of Western Kentucky and Pittsburgh, as a mentor, along with Herb Sendek, Thad Motta and Tom Crean.

Christian has been an assistant coach at St. Francis (Pa.), Western Kentucky, Miami (Ohio) and Pittsburgh. Before he spent one season as an assistant at Kent State, Christian worked as a college basketball talent evaluator for two years with Octagon Sports Marketing and Management.

At the end of his remarks he said, "Oh, I have to do this. Someone just taught me the horned frog sign. I know when you're in Texas you have to have a hand sign." And then he showed double-barreled folded finger frog signs.

Post player and leading scorer Kevin Langford said he was impressed with Christian when he met with the team this morning. "He was very passionate about the team. He had watched game tape and he knew all the players when we were introduced to him," he said.

Christian's only misstep? "He stepped on the Horned Frog [logo on the floor of the locker room]," Langford said with a smile.

"He'll learn though."

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