Athens, OH – Ohio University has scheduled a news conference for Tuesday to introduce its new men's basketball coach, which will reportedly be Jim Christian.
According to the Columbus Dispatch, Christian is leaving TCU to take over for John Groce, who left the Bobcats after four years to fill the vacancy at Illinois.
Christian spent the past four seasons at TCU and in 2011-12 guided the Horned Frogs to a record of 18-15 with an appearance in the College Basketball Invitational. TCU reached the quarterfinal round, beating Milwaukee in the first round before losing to Oregon State.
During his four-year tenure, Christian led the Horned Frogs to a record of 56-73. The 2011-12 campaign was his lone winning season at the school, which is set to move from the Mountain West to the Big 12 next season.
The Dispatch said Christian was a finalist for the opening at Rhode Island, his alma mater, but the job went to Dan Hurley. The paper also said he was interested in the Mississippi State position that went to Rick Ray.
Christian will return to the state of Ohio, where he spent six years as the head coach at Kent State from 2002-2008. He compiled a record of 138-58 with the Golden Flashes, winning at least 20 games in each season and guiding the program to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances.
At Ohio he'll take over a program that made a pair of NCAA Tournament trips under Groce. This year's squad was 29-8 and reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, taking North Carolina to overtime before bowing out to the Tar Heels in a Midwest Region semifinal.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.