Props for Powell after Christian Selection

I first spoke with Jamion Christian in May 2010, days after he lost out on the Mount men’s basketball head coaching job to Robert Burke.

I had sent Jamion a Facebook message asking if we could talk on the phone. He said yes even though we hadn't met. All I wanted to ask was whether he was interested in being one of Burke’s assistants, but he told me more.

"I wouldn’t go for the first assistant job, no disrespect to coach Burke, but my goal is to be a head coach at Mount St. Mary’s one day or be a head coach at some level at some place," Jamion told me nearly two years ago.

At the time he was William & Mary’s second assistant. He added back then: “I think we’ve got something truly special going on here that I’d really only leave to be a head coach somewhere.”

(He left William & Mary to be a VCU assistant under Shaka Smart that offseason, so I guess he was only half-lying.)

Fortunately for the Mount, that day came years sooner than expected. And while Jamion deserves congratulations, I’m also happy to credit one of my biggest editorial targets: President Thomas H. Powell.

It’s no secret I didn’t like the Burke hire. I thought Brion Dunlap or Jamion should have been selected. The Mount not only needs a good coach, but someone who understands the campus. The students, administrators, local residents – the combination of them is unlike anywhere else. We do things “differently.” Mostly with pride, but sometimes with thinly-veiled shame.

So it’s important, not only to passionate alums, but for the good of the university, that we make the most of our limited resources. In 2010, Powell miserably failed to do that, and Burke shamed us on and off the court because of it.

This time, though, was different. We were scared by rumors that Burke assistant Matt Henry, who finished the season as interim head coach, was a shoe-in for the job. Not scared because of Henry himself, but because no one else was going to be considered for the school’s biggest coaching job. But the more days that passed, the less frequent the search updates.

Then, one glorious Friday night in March, word leaked that Jamion had gotten the job. This was great not only because the class of 2004 graduate meets the aforementioned requirements to coach at the Mount, but also because of how he was chosen.

Athletics director Lynne Robinson had a say, as did other prominent, athletic-minded people who care about the Mount. Powell proactively sought their opinion, to the point that they were surprised. Lynne was even included in the initial press release and led the press conference this time.

So I salute you, Dr. Powell, for a job well done. As much as I respect your efforts on the west side of campus, I don’t think you have much to add in the east, and that’s not meant as an insult. There are, however, some great people working in the ARCC, and others who have moved on, but know Knott Arena far better than you. (Again, not an insult.) I thank you for being part of the well-informed group that chose Jamion. I look forward to returning to Jim Phelan Court next season to watch the Mountaineers in action.

By the way, I already donated $100 to the annual fund this year, and that was before you hired Jamion. Just wait until 2013. For the money and the basketball.

Speculation on Burke's staff / Burrell semi-update / Mount marriages

As far as I can tell, Mount basketball head coach Robert Burke is close to officially naming the rest of his staff. What we already  know is that Matt Henry, the former director of basketball operations at Georgetown, is on staff and has already been at work in the office. We also know that Sam Atupem is on staff in some form for the time being. On the camp brochures littered around the ARCC earlier this month, Atupem was listed as the contact person for sign-ups.


That leaves two positions remaining, which may have already been filled. It is possible that Burke already has his men and just has not taken the time to announce them, but allow me to speculate anyway.


There are two important items to consider and both point to June 1 as an important date. June 1, for one, is the date at which all of the staff from the Milan Brown era will no longer be on payroll at the Mount. Despite being formally announced as assistants as Holy Cross, not everyone from Brown's staff - Brion Dunlap, Kevin Robinson Jr. and Dan Engelstad - are off the books in Emmitsburg yet.


The second important tie to June 1, and one that has been mentioned here before, is the fact that it is the date when summer classes begin for undergraduate classes at Mount St. Mary's, and the date that Burke stated in his introductory press conference that he hoped to have named at least some of his staff to begin getting acclimated with the players. With Henry and Atupem already in place, he may have satisfied that goal in his mind and be in no rush to fill the final two positions. But I would still think that Burke is taking a "sooner the better" approach and will name his assistants very soon.


As recently as last week interviews were still being conducted to fill the final two spots. Additionally, some of the candidates, if not all, had been given game film from past Mount St. Mary's games and asked to scout both the Mount and the opponent for that game, then to send the scout back to Burke.


Now comes perhaps the most interesting information regarding the salary of these assistants. I will preface this information by saying that we do not know which two positions the remaining candidates are competing for (i.e. first assistant, second assistant, third assistant) because those positions may no longer exist at the Mount. What I mean is that the assistants may not be tiered - the three assistants under Burke could all be on the same level salary-wise.


There was either a clause in Burke's contract or a bit of finagling in the aftermath that granted him a pool of money - rumored to be a sum of $145,000 - $160,000 - that he will be allowed to split up as he chooses - in this case evenly - among his staff. The benefit I see to this is that he can offer three positions with respectable pay and have a relatively deeper staff as opposed to going strong for a proven first assistant, recruiting an up-and-comer for second and hoping to get lucky with a third (you know, in case a recent Duke point guard applies. Or something like that.)


Last I heard, which was before the holiday weekend, there were at least four candidates still fighting for the final two spots. Greg Paulus, of course, was still in the running. So was Duane Simpkins, an early-1990s player at Maryland and now three years into his head coaching job at St. Alban's High School in Washington D.C. A third nominee is Ahmad Dorsett, who is an assistant at Bowie State. And the final candidate of which I have knowledge is Harold Juluke, an assistant at Tulane.


Obviously I'm rooting for Paulus, but I don't know much about the remaining three candidates other than what I can find on the Internet. The only person who has been personally vouched for to me is Dorsett. I like the thoroughness that the process is undergoing and expect to see an announcement in the near future. If I hear anything I'll be sure to post it here.


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I'm even less confident in our ability to retain Justin Burrell than I was before. In addition to the hear-say that has been passed along, there is this:


Burrell was granted a partial release from the Mount weeks ago. Essentially this means that he can re-open his recruiting under the standard rules for every other school in the nation, except for the Mount. Because of the partial, and not full, release, Burke and his staff can still contact Burrell as much as they want as if he is still signed with the team, but he's not.


Considering the Mount has full access to the one-time top-priority recruit turned prized-signee turned more-urgent-than-ever-top-priority-recruit and he still hasn't re-committed to the Mount is troubling. If he isn't announced to be back with the Mount soon (as in two weeks ago) I would expect a school in a conference that is a level above the NEC's tier (AKA the bottom tier) to scoop him up with a late scholarship opening. And if he does not get any offers he likes in the near future he could just as easily enroll in prep school and potentially boost his stock even higher next year.


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Congrats to two Mount alumni on their recent marriages. Former Mount basketball player and current William & Mary assistant Jamion Christian was recently married in Hawaii while former Mount golfer turned head coach of the same team, Kevin Farrell, was married on campus Saturday and is spending his honeymoon in Puerto Rico this week.

Christian not in running as assistant, but is Greg Paulus?

A good Christian, but not for the Mount - yet


As coach  Robert Burke looks to fill his vacant assistant positions, we know one man who will not be on staff - Jamion Christian.


The class of 2004 Mount graduate says that while he would love the chance to return to Emmitsburg some day, he would only do so as head coach and is not interested in applying for the position of first assistant.


"I wouldn’t go for the first assistant job, no disrespect to coach Burke, but my goal is to be a head coach at Mount St. Mary’s one day or be a head coach at some level at some place," Christian said via telephone during the weekend.


The 28-year-old second assistant at the College of William & Mary described his interview process with the Mount as very positive, but does not see any scenario in which he would be on coach Burke's staff.


"Honestly I think coach Burke will do a great job, I truly believe that. But I think we’ve got something truly special going on here that I’d really only leave to be a head coach somewhere," Christian added.


The former rhetoric and communications major at the Mount describes his job at William & Mary as the ideal fit for him until he is offered the right head coaching position.


"I got a great job, man. I’m sitting here in Williamsburg right now, I have a business call at 2:15, I’m about to have a quick lunch with my fiancé, coach Shaver's a great guy to work for and I’m learning a ton of basketball," Christian stated. "I recruit the best area in the country; D.C., Maryland, Virginia. I’m at a pretty good place right now and the best thing about it is that I hold my future in my hands."


With Christian's quick ascension from an assistant at NCAA Division III Emory and Henry College in Virginia, to director of basketball operations at Bucknell, and now second assistant with the Tribe, the former three-year captain at the Mount under coach Jim Phelan looks well on his way to a head position somewhere.


"If we beat Carolina [in the first round of the NIT] maybe I’m sitting up there with you today," Christian said.


But I got the sense from our conversation that his ambition will not make him wait much longer for his opportunity.


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Paulus at the Mount?


It is a long shot, but could we see former Duke point guard and, more recently, Syracuse quarterback Greg Paulus on staff at the Mount?


Paulus was in contact with a candidate other than Robert Burke about coming on staff with the Mount if that candidate landed the position.


The former No. 1 high school football recruit in the nation from Syracuse, N.Y. (and 2004 Gatorade High School football player of the year), used his fifth year of NCAA athletics eligibility to quarterback the Orange this season before more recently heading off to rookie minicamp with the New Orleans Saints.


According to various outlets, however, Paulus was not offered a contract to remain with the team. This could open the door for his quest to return to college basketball as a coach.


It is unclear whether Paulus was specifically tied to the original candidate whom he contacted, or if he was solely interested at getting started at the Mount. Whatever the scenario, he would be a great addition to the Mount program for various reasons: He played for arguably the best college coach in the game if not the best of all time behind John Wooden, Mike Krzyzewski; he would bring instant recognition to the program via media and fans as a former nationally-recognized player; and he would be a big draw for recruits, bringing with him ties of some form to the New York state as well as Durham area.


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My blog I just wrote for the Frederick News-Post re: coach Burke should be up at some point today at this link: http://bit.ly/aBqAPk


More looking back on the coaching search in the coming days.


And today is my birthday so I'm off to Pylesville to get some homemade stromboli from my mom. Thanks for reading and I'm still jobless.

Mount St. Mary's head coaching search

I'm hearing a rumor that the final three candidates are:

-Brion Dunlap, our first assistant who interviews tomorrow

-Martin Ingelsby, ND assistant

-Chris Harney, St. Mary's College (Md.) (DIII) coach. Ironically, this is where coaches Robinson and Engelstad played. Robinson did not play for him but I believe Engelstad did.

I don't know the validity of this rumor, but it would make sense to me. Also, Jamion Christian was recently ousted as a candidate - apparently. I'm rooting for Brion.

I'm not surprised if these are the final three candidates because they would come cheap and all come from schools similar to the Mount in one way or another. Brion is from the Mount, Notre Dame is considered our sister school, and St. Mary's is a small school and it sounds pretty Catholic to me. All are also pretty young, so that makes sense as well. Since Brion is going tomorrow and is likely the final interview, the search committee was probably narrowing the field as much as possible before getting to him because it's a given that he would be a finalist.

Here are the downfalls of the three candidates:

Dunlap: No college head coaching experience.

Harney: No DI head coaching experience.

Ingelsby: Mike Brey may be about to get fired and the hot water he is in might reflect poorly on Ingelsby.

This also means that Pat Flannery might be out of the mix. We probably couldn't pay him enough to get him out of his fundraising position at Bucknell. He probably made a minimum of quadruple what we could have offered him.

UPDATE: This same source tells me that Ingelsby is the favorite. Still just a rumor and I'd have a hard time believing that completely since Brion hasn't had his interview yet.