Bryant University President Ross Gittell, Ph.D. and Vice President of Athletics and Recreation Bill Smith have jointly announced the naming of Jamion Christian as the head men's basketball coach at the university.

The 10th head coach in program history, Christian comes to Bryant from Pallacanestro Trieste of the Italian Professional Basketball League along with prior head coaching positions at George Washington University, Siena College and Mount St. Mary's University.

Christian will be formally introduced at a press conference at the Quinlan/Brown Academic Innovation Center on Friday, April 4 at 10:30 a.m. The press conference is open to the public.

"Today is a great day for the Bryant University men's basketball program," said Smith. "A great day for the entire university community, our alumni, Black & Gold Club members and our fans. Coach Christian is an outstanding coach and a tireless recruiter who is committed to developing and mentoring student-athletes to achieve success both on the floor and in the classroom. I was always impressed by his outstanding teams at Mount St. Mary's when we were conference members in the NEC. What I observed was an outstanding young coach leading a program and positioning the team to compete for championships every year. To have someone of Coach Christian's stature with head coaching experience at NEC, MAAC and Atlantic10 schools and most recently at the professional level in Italy's top league, is a big win for Bryant University. I'm so thrilled to welcome Jamion and his family to Smithfield."

One of the most highly touted young coaches in college basketball, Christian brings 18 years of collegiate coaching experience plus two years of coaching at the professional level in Italy to Bryant. He has served as the head coach of Italy's Serie A program team, Pallacanestro Trieste, for the last two seasons, and has had head coaching stops at Mount St. Mary's, Siena and George Washington. In 2020, Christian was listed 14th on ESPN's Top 40 under 40 ranking of the best young college coaches in the country.

"We are thrilled to welcome Coach Jamion Christian to Bryant University," said President Ross Gittell, Ph.D. "Coach Christian brings deep experience at both the collegiate and professional levels, and his strong leadership, vision, and commitment to student-athlete success make him an outstanding addition to our community. His proven record of developing competitive teams and encouraging excellence on and off the court aligns with Bryant University's values, and we are excited for the future of our men's basketball program under his leadership."

Christian joined Trieste for the 2023-24 season and led the club to a Serie A2 playoff championship and a return to the Italy's top league, Serie A, for the 2024-25 season. He has posted a 41-24 record in his two seasons and currently has the club in sixth place in the 16-team league.

A 2004 graduate of Mount St. Mary's, Christian made a name for himself as one of the best young coaches in college basketball, earning his first head coaching opportunity in 2012 at his alma mater at the age of 29. Christian would lead the Mountaineers for the next six seasons, winning Northeast Conference Championships and advancing to the NCAA Tournament in 2014 and 2017. The 2017 team also won an NCAA Tournament game, defeating the University of New Orleans in the First Four.

Christian compiled a 101-95 overall record and a 67-39 conference record at the Mount, earning NEC Coach of the Year honors in 2017.

"I am so excited to have a chance to lead the Bryant basketball program," Christian said. "My level of appreciation comes from all the success they have had recently but also the incredible progression this program has been on since turning Division I. Each time I played here I was amazed at the talent and the passion of the fan base. Allie, Jacoy Jones and Jude are so happy to be calling Smithfield home. We've missed college basketball and the chance to impact young people in the way higher education provides. We are looking forward to being active members in the community and starting our life here in Rhode Island."

"As the head coach I am looking forward to enhancing the momentum that we have as a program," Christian continued. "We will compete. We will play with joy. We will show how powerful connection can be. We will elevate those around us with our actions. It's a Great Day to be a Bulldog!"

Christian was named the head coach at Siena in May of 2018 and coached the Saints to a 17-16 overall record, a nine-win improvement from the previous season. In his lone season in Albany, Christian's brand of basketball saw the Saints improve from 251st to 43rd nationally in scoring defense, 322nd to eighth in fewest turnovers, and 250th to 74th in 3-point field goals per game.

The New Kent, Virginia, native was called back to his roots, however, becoming the head coach at George Washington after just one season with the Saints. Christian served as the head coach for three seasons (2019-22) at GW, posting a 29-50 overall record.

Christian also has assistant coaching stops at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), William & Mary, Bucknell and Emory and Henry. At VCU, Christian worked under Shaka Smart (now head coach at Marquette) and helped the Rams win the CAA title and reached the Sweet 16 in the 2012 NCAA Tournament.

Christian's teams play a mayhem-style of basketball, styled after Smart's "havoc" defense from his time at VCU, with a pressing defense and up-tempo offense that relies on three-point shooting. The Mount ranked in the top 70 nationally in defensive turnover percentage in five of his six seasons, including as high as third during the 2015-16 season.

As a player, Christian was a three-year captain at the Mount St. Mary's, scoring 581 points in 90 career games and 56 starts. He led the Mount in scoring with 11.3 points per game in 2001-02 and averaged 8.2 ppg the following season.

Christian will take over a Bryant program that is coming off a DI program-record 23 victories, America East Regular Season and Tournament titles and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Black and Gold have advanced to the conference championship game in three of the last five years and Bryant's 97 victories since 2020-21 are the third-most by a New England program.