Now It’s Official: Jamion Christian is Siena’s Basketball Coach

As Rodger Wyland first reported last week, what we’ve known all along, Jamion Christian will be the next head coach at Siena. Despite denials of conversations or offers, it’s now official. Christian’s buyout from Mount Saint Mary’s was the only hold up. That buyout could end up costing Siena as much as $600,000, but my guess is it will be less and perhaps significantly so.

In the end, what matters most is that Siena is hiring the coach it has wanted for more than a week now. At 36 years old, Christian is a young, ascending head coach with the potential to restore some of the allure Siena has lost since Fran McCaffrey left for Iowa. Christian made two trips to the NCAA Tournament with The Mount and now he'll try to get the Saints there for the first time since 2010.

His first order of business, of course, needs to be the re-recruitment of some Siena players currently shopping for a transfer school. Reaching out to Roman Penn, Prince Oduro and maybe even Nico Clareth is the priority. Yes, there is some rebuilding to do, but why not start with some of the foundation that's already been laid?