Jim Christian is the Guy! -- Canisius University Golden Griffins

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Post a Reply to This Message ]
[ Edit | View ]

[> [> Re: Jim Christian is the Guy! -- MainStMilano, Mon, April 08 2024, 7:39:33

A truly exciting time to support the program. Let’s rally around Coach Christian and get this thing moving in the right direction. St Peter Canisius, pray for us.

[ Post a Reply to This Message ]
[ Edit | View ]

[> [> Re: Jim Christian is the Guy! -- Griff, Mon, April 08 2024, 7:06:13

I don't know any of those details yet. I'm sure things will come together quickly this week including him putting his staff together.

[ Post a Reply to This Message ]
[ Edit | View ]

[> [> [> Re: Jim Christian is the Guy! -- Griffer, Tue, April 09 2024, 8:43:43

He really needs to meet with the players ASAP, and see if he can convince any players to remain. Getting a late start on recruiting to be sure.

[ Post a Reply to This Message ]
[ Edit | View ]

[> [> [> [> Re: Jim Christian is the Guy! -- Griff, Tue, April 09 2024, 16:05:10

Pretty positive that was one of the things at the top of his list and has been done to the Nth degree plus.

[ Post a Reply to This Message ]
[ Edit | View ]

[> Re: Jim Christian is the Guy! -- Trilly Baron, Mon, April 08 2024, 8:08:18

Boring hire here. Any real success he’s had is looking at 20 years ago. It’s a hire University leadership can feel safe about because it most likely won’t blow up, but not the kind of high ceiling hire many other schools have made that can turn into real success.

I could make an argument that Reggie actually has a better resume over the last 15 years.
- Christian has gone 13 straight years without an NCAA Tournament appearance, 11 of which at power 5 schools.

- Reggie had more postseason appearances (1 CIT, 1 CBI) in his Canisius tenure than Jim Christian had in the same span (1 NIT).

- Since Christian left Kent State in 2008, Reggie has more postseason wins as a head coach. While both have a whopping 0 NCAA tournaments since 2008, which is all that really matters.

- Christian also has yet to coach a game in the NIL/Free Transfer era, so the jury is out on how he’ll handle the two biggest things plaguing mid-major programs currently.

Really wanted Canisius to step out of the box of safe hires. Sure, it could have blown up, but a young high ceiling coach is something schools at the MAAC level should be looking at in my opinion.

[ Post a Reply to This Message ]
[ Edit | View ]

[> [> Re: Jim Christian is the Guy! -- Negativity, Mon, April 08 2024, 8:35:18

What took so long for some to start bitching about the hire ? Some are just consumed with negativity . Regardless of who was hired , there was ALWAYS going to be the negative second guessers .

[ Post a Reply to This Message ]
[ Edit | View ]

[> Re: Jim Christian is the Guy! -- Michael Bundt (Trainwreck Sports), Mon, April 08 2024, 8:41:50

Trilly, as someone that actually covered Jim Christian at Ohio, I couldn't disagree more.

He's a highly intelligent coach that has had a ton of success at the mid-major level and should translate well in this new NIL/Transfer portal era of college basketball.

He struggled at Boston College but had no resources compared to his ACC peers.

He was solid at Ohio averaging 24.5 wins in his two seasons there. TCU was in the Mountain West when he was there and not nearly the program they are now in the Big 12.

Christian was dominant at Kent State and had them in at-large contention the one year they won the MAC.

This is a safe hire but also one that'll help Canisius be a MAAC contender in the near future. His resume is WAY stronger than Reggie. He has a 320-286 record with 2 NCAA Tournament appearances, 5 NIT appearances, 1 CIT and 1 CBI.

This is a very encouraging hire for Canisius.

[ Post a Reply to This Message ]
[ Edit | View ]

[> Re: Jim Christian is the Guy! -- OLD GRIFF FAN, Mon, April 08 2024, 11:03:09

He;s 59 years old,and at his age it;s likely he a lock to be here for a while.Does anyone know if Reggie coached at U.B. when he coached at Kent State.For the money the Griffs had to hire,they got a steal.Lets hope he can talk some of this years team to stay for the ride.

[ Post a Reply to This Message ]
[ Edit | View ]

[> Re: Jim Christian is the Guy! -- Michael Bundt (Trainwreck Sports), Mon, April 08 2024, 11:52:29

OLD GRIFF FAN -- Reggie coached against Jim Christian several times while he was at Kent State and Ohio.

Christian has the 5th best win percentage in MAC history at .697 in 8 total seasons, two spots ahead of Nate Oats at .691

[ Post a Reply to This Message ]
[ Edit | View ]

[> Re: Jim Christian is the Guy! -- Buffalo Super Fan, Mon, April 08 2024, 14:56:55

First welcome to Buffalo Jim Christian and good luck as the new head coach of the Griffs. People talking about Reggie Witherspoon is this or that comparing him to Jim Christian at the end of the day it was time to move on from Reggie Witherspoon. I am very bias on the Reggie Witherspoon subject as a coach. Because I also am a fan of the UB Bulls. Reggie Witherspoon is a fabulous human being but he isn’t a big game coach. The UB Bulls Ohio Bobcats melt down blowing a huge lead with Turner Battle was a disgrace. Reggie Witherspoon has a ceiling and I never like the Reggie Witherspoon hire with the Canisius because Reggie Witherspoon couldn’t win at UB with more resources than Canisius. I am also not a fan of William Maher as Canisius athletic director because UB didn’t think he was all that great that is why they didn’t retain him.

As a Griffs fan I don’t trust William Maher with the ability to fund raise on a larger scale. William Maher does just enough but he isn’t a fund raiser sorry. UB wanted fund raisers William Maher is an old school athletic director and he should have been let go along with Reggie Witherspoon because of the small amount of money for athletics. And so Canisius University gets rid of all the UB castoffs. Canisius University needs to move on from UB recycled castoffs. Again you need to roll up your sleeves and fund raise. I could care less putting together Griffs athletic schedules. You should see William Maher every where fund raising he isn’t that type of person. In the business too long and to comfortable like Reggie Witherspoon William Maher isn’t changing. If Jim Christian is going to be successful Griffs coach Canisius athletics needs to do a better job fund raising for Griffs basketball in my opinion. Go Griffs! Let’s Go Buffalo

[ Post a Reply to This Message ]
[ Edit | View ]

[> [> Re: Jim Christian is the Guy! -- Griff, Tue, April 09 2024, 6:03:53

BSF - I hesitated to approve this but you've had some more realistic views on things recently. Let's not start meandering again.

Fund raising and the NIL efforts (which in many ways will become one in the same) are not easy tasks at a small school with a limited "big time" booster pool. And certainly the losing, the complete inaccessibility of RW and his staff, and then this year the Long and Staveskie debacle, made getting money from people extremely difficult.

While many have questioned some decisions, I can tell you that Bill is very approachable, very visible, and very active. I think now that Christian has been hired, we will begin to see the work of Assistant AD for Revenue Generation and Fan Engagement Mike Kochczynski. Mike is as Canisius as anyone on the planet and he will work tirelessly to generate funds as I'm confident Coach Christian will as well.

[ Post a Reply to This Message ]
[ Edit | View ]

[> [> [> Re: Jim Christian is the Guy! -- left-coast griff, Tue, April 09 2024, 11:15:24

Not sure if the footprint is big enough but the Lyons Hall site (if it is being demolished) might be great for a combo lacrosse/soccer facility. Then more permanent changes/improvements could be made for the baseball/softball facilities.

[ Post a Reply to This Message ]
[ Edit | View ]

[> [> [> Re: Jim Christian is the Guy! -- CNY GRIFF, Tue, April 09 2024, 17:11:25

Griff, very well said. Mike is a Golden Griffin all the way. He will get things rolling quickly and get the job done.

[ Post a Reply to This Message ]
[ Edit | View ]

[> [> Re: Jim Christian is the Guy! -- GoldenGriff32, Tue, April 09 2024, 10:15:32

While reading this message everytime,I read William Maher, I wanted to call 844-444-4444 and I wasn't even injured in a Motor Vehicle Accident.Go Griffs!

[ Post a Reply to This Message ]
[ Edit | View ]

[> [> [> Re: Jim Christian is the Guy! -- CC82, Wed, April 10 2024, 6:30:09

BSF - Canisius isn't a huge school with all the staff UB has. Bill Mahar is paid to be the AD. He runs the entire operation for sports. He isn't able to travel around the US with the president to act as a fund raiser. He gets more
financial support thru the Blue and Gold than any Department on campus. I say he is doing a good job.