William Jewell Director of Athletics Tom Eisenhauer and head men’s basketball coach Larry Holley have announced the hiring of Christian Hildebrandt as the new assistant men’s basketball coach, effective Thursday, October 18.
“I’m very excited to add Christian Hildebrandt to our coaching staff,” said Holley. “I had the privilege of coaching him, he was a member of our coaching staff during the 2015-16 school year and he’s been a member of our summer basketball camp staff for the past four years. He’s a winner and I look forward to working with him!”
Hildebrandt returns to Jewell after spending two seasons at Central Methodist University as a graduate assistant, working under 2018 Heart of America Athletic Conference Coach of the Year Jeff Sherman. During his two seasons at CMU, he helped lead the Eagles to a combined record of 44-20 and a national ranking as high as No. 7 in February 2018. In addition, he helped lead the Eagles to eight All-HAAC honors and mentored two All-Americans including 2018 HAAC Player of the Year Brian Egejuru.
Prior to Central Methodist he spent one season on Holley’s bench as a volunteer assistant coach during the 2015-16 season. A 2015 William Jewell graduate Hildebrandt played one year for the Cardinals after transferring from Texas Pan American. During his only season in Jewell uniform, he averaged 11.8 points and 4.7 rebounds per contest as the only player to start all 27 games. At NCAA-I Texas Pan American (now Texas Rio Grande), he appeared in 24 games with a start.
Hildebrandt began his collegiate career at Johnson County Community College where he was a second team All-Kansas Jayhawk Conference selection as a sophomore after putting in 17.5 points per game, which was good enough for fourth in the league, along with 6.2 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game. As a freshman, he boasted 13.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 2.3 assists while shooting better than 37 percent from the floor, and leading the Cavs to a region and district championship. For his Johnson County career, he poured in 1,026 points in just two seasons, becoming the eleventh player in program history to do so. In addition, he finished fourth all-time with 140 three-point field goals and sixth with 226 free throws.
A Kansas City native, Hildebrandt prepped at Park Hill South High School where he was a two-time All-State, All-District, All-Metro, and Conference Player of the Year selection. On the court he led Park Hill South to a ranking of No. 37 in the state of Missouri while also participating in track and field and breaking the school record in the triple jump.
Hildebrandt holds a associate of arts degree in liberal arts from Johnson County, a bachelor’s degree in recreation and sport from William Jewell, and completed his master’s degree in education with an emphasis in athletic administration in May 2018 from Central Methodist. He replaces Jimmie Williams, who accepted a position at NCAA-I Furman University after three years with the Cardinals.
