He attended Bucknell University, where he lettered in football, basketball, and baseball, and from which he graduated in 1923 From 1923 to 1926, Julian played minor league baseball with a number of clubs: the Reading Keystones, the Harrisburg Senators, the York White Roses, the Chambersburg Maroons, and the Lawrence Merry Macks.

His team, which included later National Basketball Association (NBA) great Bob Cousy, almost repeated this feat in 1948, losing in the semifinals.

Julian was hired by the Boston Celtics of the NBA after his college success, but he recorded only a 47–81 mark before he was dismissed in 1950.

Julian died on July 28, 1967, at a nursing home in White River Junction, Vermont.

He had suffered a stroke the previous December in Rochester, New York while coaching Dartmouth in the Kodak Classic basketball tournament.