Sunday’s report that Texas Christian coach Jim Christian would be named Ohio’s next men’s basketball coach became clearer Monday when TCU announced Christian would be leaving the school.
“Jim Christian will not be returning as TCU’s head men’s basketball coach,” TCU Athletic Director Chris Del Conte said in a statement. “We appreciate Jim’s contributions to TCU and wish him the best.”
Christian recently completed his fourth season as the Horned Frogs’ coach, where he compiled a 56-73 record.
Though Ohio University has not publicly announced his hiring, Ohio Athletics announced a 2 p.m. Tuesday news conference to introduce the new coach.
Once the hiring is made official, Christian will inherit an Ohio team coming off a 29-win season — the winningest season in school history. He stepped into a similar situation in 2002 when he took over a Kent State team fresh off a run to the Elite Eight.
In six seasons with the Golden Flashes, Christian compiled a 138-58 record, winning the Mid-American Conference East Division four times and never finishing below second place in the division.
Former Ohio player and assistant coach Geno Ford served as an assistant under Christian at Kent State for four seasons before being named head coach when Christian left for TCU.
“I can tell you this: That’s bad news for a lot of guys in the Mid-American Conference,” Ford said about Ohio’s imminent hiring of Christian. “It makes a lot of sense. The university hit an absolute home run with the hire.”
Christian was named MAC Coach of the Year in 2006 and 2008 after guiding the Golden Flashes to a MAC Tournament Championship and appearances in the NCAA Tournament in each season.
Christian has the highest winning percentage in conference history among coaches who coached at least five seasons.
“One thing’s for sure, they’ll play very fundamentally and they’ll play very hard,” said Ford, the current head coach at Bradley. “The fans in Athens, they rally around a hard-working team. He’ll bring that.”
Before Sunday’s report that Christian would be named Ohio’s new coach, former Ohio players Jeff Boals and Dustin Ford were rumored to be the frontrunners for the position.
Boals, currently an assistant coach on Thad Matta’s staff at Ohio State, said he was contacted about the opening but was never offered the job.
“I know Jimmy (Christian) real well. I think it’s a good hire,” Boals said. “I think he will do a great job there.”
Dustin Ford, Geno’s brother, was the top assistant on former Ohio coach John Groce’s staff last season before Groce departed for Illinois.
Geno Ford said he is unsure of what the future holds for his brother.
“I have no idea what’s going on with any of that,” Geno Ford said. “When CBS announced that Jim was getting the job, he was really happy for Jim and happy for the players. He’s an alum and he cares about that place a whole bunch.”
While Dustin Ford’s status remains uncertain, Ohio is likely to lose former Ohio assistant Jamall Walker, who will reportedly join Groce at Illinois. The coaching transition might also cost the Bobcats prospect Evan Bradds, who recently decommitted from Ohio.
The terms of Christian’s contract will remain unknown until the hire becomes official, but CBS reported that Christian would earn a salary similar to the about $600,000 he made at TCU.
Currently, no Ohio University employee makes more than $400,000 per year.
OU economics professor Richard Vedder voiced his concerns about rewarding a somewhat unproven coach with such a large salary.
“We can compete a little bit better in basketball than in football, but nonetheless, to hire a coach who doesn’t have a track record of extraordinary success … and pay him a salary radically greater than anyone else in the university is the wrong message,” Vedder said.
