George Washington University Athletics
Making Connections
6/29/2020 3:07:00 PM | Men's Basketball
GW men's basketball aims to share knowledge with 360 Mentoring symposium
During March Madness 2004, Jamion Christian was a college senior a few months away from starting his coaching journey as a D-III assistant.
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From afar, Paul Hewitt provided the perfect role model in guiding the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets to the national final. For Christian, it was meaningful to see a Black coach at the height of the profession, showcasing a high-energy, aggressive game plan on both ends while remaining calm, cool and collected on the sideline.
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"I just felt like he conducted himself with such class always," Christian said. "I think there's this misnomer that if you play that way you have to act a certain way, and he was so classy. I loved watching him."
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Christian and Hewitt have become friends as Christian's similarly exciting brand of MAYHEM has carried him through the ranks to become head coach at GW, and it's special for the Colonials' leader to have Hewitt on board for his latest initiative to help the next generation making the often-difficult climb.
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On Wednesday, Christian will be joined by Hewitt and nearly three dozen other coaches, university administrators and industry leaders for 360 Mentoring, an all-day virtual coaching townhall discussion hosted via CoachTube.com.
Christian and his GW men's basketball staff have organized the free symposium, featuring a trailblazing group of panelists headlined by Shaka Smart (Texas) and Tubby Smith (High Point). The aim was to gather some of the country's brightest and most experienced minds, many of them people of color, to share a valuable collection of knowledge in one place.
For Christian, 360 Mentoring represents a chance to pay his experience forward while continuing to grow himself, and the coach was pleased to find so many of his peers – including Hewitt, who is now an NBA scout for the Los Angeles Clippers – excited about contributing their voices to the effort.
"I've always wanted to do something like this because I felt like in our educational platform in college athletics we didn't have anything like this," Christian said. "We didn't have a platform where administrators of color, coaches of color could all be in the same place together. I just felt like that's really needed and really important."
Christian and his staff have been discussing how to turn such an event into a reality for about a year.
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At first, the goal was to bring the forum to life in D.C. this summer, but when the COVID-19 global pandemic halted those plans, Christian realized they had the potential for an even more inclusive event by getting creative to hold it virtually.
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"I think that's why you come to GW," Christian said. "You come to GW to be a part of something that's bigger than yourself. That's one of the things that we stand for. You want to do things that impact the world and make it a better place, and you can do that in Washington, D.C., the world's most powerful city."
Â
Christian praised assistant coach Nima Omidvar's efforts to secure commitments from such a decorated group for the first of what the coach hopes will become an annual event.Â
They were able to put together seven panels covering a wide variety of topics with something for everyone, from those just starting out in college athletics to established veterans in the industry.
Â
"It's amazing," Christian said. "It's why we all signed up to do what we do every day. I think that's what's great about it. It's really getting us all back down to our foundation that we all believe in: educating people."
360 Mentoring starts at 9 a.m. with a University Leadership panel that includes GW Provost M. Brian Blake and GW Multicultural Center Director Mike Tapscott and follows with new sessions every two hours about navigating the challenges of the profession from all angles.
The day concludes with a 9 p.m. conversation that brings together a distinguished collection of veteran head coaches in Smith, Leonard Hamilton (Florida State), Lorenzo Romar (Pepperdine) and Mike Davis (Detroit Mercy). The Legends group has combined for 45 D-I NCAA Tournament appearances as head coach, highlighted by Smith's run to the 1998 national title at Kentucky.
Christian is slated to take part in a panel titled Next Up: The Future of Black Head Coaches. He'll be joined by Smart, whom he worked under as an assistant at VCU, plus Oklahoma State's Mike Boynton, DePaul's Dave Leitao and South Alabama's Richie Riley for a conversation moderated by The Athletic's Chick Hernandez.
Â
Thinking back to the guy who started out on the bottom rung of the coaching ladder at Emory and Henry College, Christian knows the importance of having role models and understanding what the path forward might look like.
Â
"People need to hear these stories," said Christian, who is entering his ninth season as a D-I head coach at 38. "I think people automatically assume if you're a head coach before the age of 40 that everything kind of fell your way when in actuality there was a lot of adversity along the way that you found out a way to manage."
Old Dominion Senior Associate Athletic Director Bruce Stewart became friendly with Christian a decade ago when they were on opposite sides of the heated VCU-ODU rivalry. He jumped at the chance to join 360 Mentoring, participating in the Athletic Leadership panel that includes GW Director of Athletics Tanya Vogel and GW Athletic Hall of Famer Dr. Ingrid Wicker McCree, Director of Athletics at North Carolina Central.
"I'm just honored and humbled to be put in an environment with such esteemed individuals that I have a high regard for," Stewart said. "You've heard this before: 'To whom much is given, much is required.' I've been extremely blessed with some of the fortunate opportunities that I have, and it's incumbent on me to turn around and provide those same nuggets to others that are willing to listen."
Â
Although the planning for the event predates the national protests amid the Black Lives Matter movement against violence and systemic racism towards the Black community, 360 Mentoring arrives at an important moment. This event has the opportunity to spark meaningful conversations that can help pave the way for a brighter future.
"I think we all recognize that we need to be more connected," Christian said. "Events like these will probably become more common. We're going to do it every year, just to bring us together to talk about the things that we're battling through. We shouldn't need someone losing their life for us to come together to help one another, and so I think that's the biggest thing: 'How can we be connected? How can we help each other? How can we grow together?'"
Â
From afar, Paul Hewitt provided the perfect role model in guiding the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets to the national final. For Christian, it was meaningful to see a Black coach at the height of the profession, showcasing a high-energy, aggressive game plan on both ends while remaining calm, cool and collected on the sideline.
Â
"I just felt like he conducted himself with such class always," Christian said. "I think there's this misnomer that if you play that way you have to act a certain way, and he was so classy. I loved watching him."
Â
Christian and Hewitt have become friends as Christian's similarly exciting brand of MAYHEM has carried him through the ranks to become head coach at GW, and it's special for the Colonials' leader to have Hewitt on board for his latest initiative to help the next generation making the often-difficult climb.
Â
On Wednesday, Christian will be joined by Hewitt and nearly three dozen other coaches, university administrators and industry leaders for 360 Mentoring, an all-day virtual coaching townhall discussion hosted via CoachTube.com.
Christian and his GW men's basketball staff have organized the free symposium, featuring a trailblazing group of panelists headlined by Shaka Smart (Texas) and Tubby Smith (High Point). The aim was to gather some of the country's brightest and most experienced minds, many of them people of color, to share a valuable collection of knowledge in one place.
For Christian, 360 Mentoring represents a chance to pay his experience forward while continuing to grow himself, and the coach was pleased to find so many of his peers – including Hewitt, who is now an NBA scout for the Los Angeles Clippers – excited about contributing their voices to the effort.
"I've always wanted to do something like this because I felt like in our educational platform in college athletics we didn't have anything like this," Christian said. "We didn't have a platform where administrators of color, coaches of color could all be in the same place together. I just felt like that's really needed and really important."
Christian and his staff have been discussing how to turn such an event into a reality for about a year.
Â
At first, the goal was to bring the forum to life in D.C. this summer, but when the COVID-19 global pandemic halted those plans, Christian realized they had the potential for an even more inclusive event by getting creative to hold it virtually.
Â
"I think that's why you come to GW," Christian said. "You come to GW to be a part of something that's bigger than yourself. That's one of the things that we stand for. You want to do things that impact the world and make it a better place, and you can do that in Washington, D.C., the world's most powerful city."
Â
Christian praised assistant coach Nima Omidvar's efforts to secure commitments from such a decorated group for the first of what the coach hopes will become an annual event.Â
They were able to put together seven panels covering a wide variety of topics with something for everyone, from those just starting out in college athletics to established veterans in the industry.
Â
"It's amazing," Christian said. "It's why we all signed up to do what we do every day. I think that's what's great about it. It's really getting us all back down to our foundation that we all believe in: educating people."
360 Mentoring starts at 9 a.m. with a University Leadership panel that includes GW Provost M. Brian Blake and GW Multicultural Center Director Mike Tapscott and follows with new sessions every two hours about navigating the challenges of the profession from all angles.
The day concludes with a 9 p.m. conversation that brings together a distinguished collection of veteran head coaches in Smith, Leonard Hamilton (Florida State), Lorenzo Romar (Pepperdine) and Mike Davis (Detroit Mercy). The Legends group has combined for 45 D-I NCAA Tournament appearances as head coach, highlighted by Smith's run to the 1998 national title at Kentucky.
Christian is slated to take part in a panel titled Next Up: The Future of Black Head Coaches. He'll be joined by Smart, whom he worked under as an assistant at VCU, plus Oklahoma State's Mike Boynton, DePaul's Dave Leitao and South Alabama's Richie Riley for a conversation moderated by The Athletic's Chick Hernandez.
Â
Thinking back to the guy who started out on the bottom rung of the coaching ladder at Emory and Henry College, Christian knows the importance of having role models and understanding what the path forward might look like.
Â
"People need to hear these stories," said Christian, who is entering his ninth season as a D-I head coach at 38. "I think people automatically assume if you're a head coach before the age of 40 that everything kind of fell your way when in actuality there was a lot of adversity along the way that you found out a way to manage."
Old Dominion Senior Associate Athletic Director Bruce Stewart became friendly with Christian a decade ago when they were on opposite sides of the heated VCU-ODU rivalry. He jumped at the chance to join 360 Mentoring, participating in the Athletic Leadership panel that includes GW Director of Athletics Tanya Vogel and GW Athletic Hall of Famer Dr. Ingrid Wicker McCree, Director of Athletics at North Carolina Central.
"I'm just honored and humbled to be put in an environment with such esteemed individuals that I have a high regard for," Stewart said. "You've heard this before: 'To whom much is given, much is required.' I've been extremely blessed with some of the fortunate opportunities that I have, and it's incumbent on me to turn around and provide those same nuggets to others that are willing to listen."
Â
Although the planning for the event predates the national protests amid the Black Lives Matter movement against violence and systemic racism towards the Black community, 360 Mentoring arrives at an important moment. This event has the opportunity to spark meaningful conversations that can help pave the way for a brighter future.
"I think we all recognize that we need to be more connected," Christian said. "Events like these will probably become more common. We're going to do it every year, just to bring us together to talk about the things that we're battling through. We shouldn't need someone losing their life for us to come together to help one another, and so I think that's the biggest thing: 'How can we be connected? How can we help each other? How can we grow together?'"
Thursday, May 21
Thursday, May 21
Thursday, May 21
Thursday, May 21