The Virginia Commonwealth University men's basketball programwelcomed two new members to its family on Wednesday with Head CoachShaka Smart announcing the additions of Jamion Christian andMichael Morrell to his coaching staff.
Christian comes to the Black & Gold sidelines after spendingthe past three years at William & Mary, while Morrell willserve as the Director of Basketball Operations and joins the Ramsafter spending last year as an assistant coach at CharlestonSouthern.
"We are extremely excited about Jamion and Mike joining ourstaff," Smart said. "Both are highly talented young coaches, whocome from strong backgrounds of success."
A native of New Kent, Va., Christian takes over for Mike Jones,who was named the Head Coach at Radford University last week. Inthree seasons with the Tribe, he helped usher in a new era ofbasketball. The Tribe made their second postseason appearance everin 2010 and recorded the third most wins in school history with22.
On the recruiting trail, he aided in the Tribe's 2010 recruitingclass that was ranked among the best in "Mid-Major" classes in thecountry and the best in the CAA by ESPN.com andScouts, Inc. During his time with William & Mary,Christian's main recruiting areas were Virginia, Texas and theWashington, D.C. region.
Prior to his time with the Tribe, he spent two seasons as theDirector of Basketball Operations at Bucknell University and twoseasons as an assistant coach at Emory & Henry. As a player,Christian was a three-year captain at Mount St. Mary's, scoringnearly 600 points in 90 career games for the Mountaineers.
He earned his degree from Mount St. Mary's in rhetoric andcommunications in 2004.
"I am extremely excited, yet humbled with the opportunityto join Coach Smart, his great staff and the VCU community,"Christian said. "I am looking forward to continuing in the missionand the standard of greatness that Coach Smart sets for our programeach day."
During his senior year at New Kent High School, Christian ledhis squad to an undefeated season and a VHSL StateChampionship.
