As the 2024-25 season gets closer and closer, some institutions will see new coaches take the reins of their basketball programs. Throughout the offseason, Mount St. Mary’s, Seina and Canisius have brought in new head coaches to try and bring their programs to the next level. Here are the three new coaches guiding Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) programs for the first time this season.
Jim Christian (Canisius)
Starting with the most experienced new hire, Christian has about 34 years of experience coaching college basketball, with 22 years coming as a head coach.
Starting his head coaching career in 2002 with Kent State, Christian has been the head coach at several major Division I programs like Boston College and Texas Christian. But, the most success he has had at the Division I level has been at the mid-major level, winning Mid-American Conference tournament championships and MAC regular season championships with Kent State and Ohio.
Now, back at a mid-major school for the first time since 2014, he will look to lead Canisius to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1996.
Gerry McNamara (Siena)
McNamara is a first-time head coach who replaces Carmen Maciariello. Like the former Siena coach, McNamara has a career as a player and coach.
McNamara played for Syracuse from 2002-06, where he won a national championship in 2003 and currently has his jersey retired by the program. McNamara also started his coaching career at Syracuse, beginning as a graduate manager in 2009. It also was his only stop throughout his coaching career before Siena, becoming an assistant in 2011 and then the associate head coach in 2023.
Coming from the coaching tree of Jim Boeheim, his experience working at a major school and his championship pedigree as a player and coach should help a Siena team looking to win the MAAC championship for the first time since 2010.
Donny Lind (Mount St. Mary’s)
Lind is another first-time head coach in the MAAC this season, entering the job at Mount Saint Mary’s after working for three years as an assistant at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro.
Before that, he served as an assistant at Radford, where he was on the staff of the 2018 team that made it to the NCAA Tournament after winning the Big South. Lind also has a history at Mount St. Mary’s, as he worked as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator to start his career in 2013.
Lind’s familiarity with the program should help him in the team’s quest to win their first MAAC championship.