Kent, OH -- (Sports Network) - Geno Ford has been named head coach of the Kent State men's basketball team, the school announced Wednesday.

Ford spent four seasons as an assistant for the Golden Flashes and replaces Jim Christian, who left in March to take the coaching job at TCU.

"I'm really honored and humbled by this position," said Ford, an Ohio University alum. "I'm following someone who cast the biggest shadow over the conference in history. Coach Christian taught me a lot. I'm really honored to be given the opportunity to follow him."

A Cambridge, Ohio native, Ford was "Mr. Basketball" in Ohio in 1993, and scored 1,752 points as a guard at Ohio. He stayed on as an assistant coach at Ohio for three seasons after graduating in 1997, before taking a head coaching position at Division II Shawnee State University in Ohio.

After just one season at Shawnee, Ford took a position on Christian's staff at Kent State, where he worked from 2002-2005. He left for two seasons to take the head coaching job at Division III Muskingum College in Ohio, then returned to the Kent State program this past season.

Ford, with a combined 51-32 record in his three seasons as a head coach, has big shoes to fill. Christian compiled a 138-58 mark in six seasons at Kent State, won at least 20 games in each season, and had the highest winning percentage in Mid-American Conference history.

The Golden Flashes have made consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament, including this season, when they went 28-7 and won the MAC tourney title. Kent State was a No. 9 seed, the highest in school history, but ended up bowing out in the first round to UNLV.