christianson attended river falls high school and later st. john's university in minnesota. while attending st. john's, he averaged 20 points and eight rebounds, and in his junior season there, he led the minnesota intercollegiate athletic conference in field goal percentage. during his basketball career, christian played in several countries, including lithuania and china. he played in the international basketball association and continental basketball association, for both quad city thunder and sioux falls skyforce. he attended a camp for the milwaukee bucks in 1998, and played for the dallas mavericks team in the nba summer league. on march 16, 2004, he signed a contract with the charleston lowgators.