We are less than 2 weeks away from the tip-off of the college basketball season, which means that we still have time to start preparing for the action ahead. We will do so via a series of season previews featuring the best players/coaches in the country. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel continues our coverage with new Mississippi State coach Chris Jans, who talked about being hired last March and his expectations for this season.
You played basketball at Loras College: how good a player were you back in the day, and how did you get into coaching? Not many people ask me about my playing career! I probably thought that I was better than I actually was while growing up in small-town Iowa but I kept with it and became a decent D-3 player. I am built like a PG but was a better shooter than ball-handler so I played the 2 a lot. Growing up all I ever wanted to be was a high school PE teacher/coach. I could wear sweats to work and get paid for it: I thought that it was the coolest thing ever! However, my dad thought I should strive for more so I got a couple of business degrees but I kept feeling the pull of coaching.
In 1998 in your 2nd year as head coach at Kirkwood Community College you went 31-6 and beat Sinclair Community College in the D-2 junior college title game: what did it mean to you to win a championship? Dumb luck! I probably did not deserve to get the job at age 26 but it was a relationship-driven opportunity. I did not have much of a resume back then but we had a good 2-year run. I tried to “keep it simple, stupid” and we played hard and had some good players. I thought it would be like that each and every year but I was mistaken. I still have a great relationship with several of those players and have even started to recruit some of their sons!
In 2014 as an assistant to Gregg Marshall at Wichita State you started 35-0 before losing to Kentucky on a missed 3-PT shot at the buzzer: what made that team so magical? We were coming off of a Final 4 run and our core group of returnees were so hungry for more. Their mindset/approach was off the chart that summer and we added some pieces to the mix. We had some tough guys like Fred VanVleet/Ron Baker who understood the daily grind that is required to win. There is always a thought that losing a game would help us refocus but I disagree. Everyone was on board as we tried to make some history. The Kentucky game was the highest-level college game that I have ever been around. Both teams shot well over 50 FG% and there were a handful of future NBA players on the court.
In 2020 as head coach at New Mexico State you finished the regular season on a 19-game winning streak (including a win over Mississippi State): what was your reaction that March after learning that the entire postseason was getting canceled due to COVID? Most of us will never forget where we were when it surprised all of us. It was tough to try to live through a pandemic but we are settling in for the most part now. From a basketball standpoint it was devastating. I remember walking into my hotel room in Vegas: we were the #1 seed and had all the momentum in the world despite being really banged up in the fall. That Mississippi State game in December helped us turn things around. For the guys who had exhausted their eligibility they were just crushed. It is 1 thing to lose your final game of the season on the court…but to have it taken away without playing an opponent was hard to describe.
Last March in the NCAA tourney you had a 7-PT upset of UConn: how big a deal was it to get the school’s 1st officially recognized NCAA tournament win since 1970? It felt great! That fanbase/administration/university deserved to have that feeling and pump their chest out. We wanted to get them over the hump. When you leave a job and it is better than where you found it: that is a good barometer of success. They were good before I arrived but my staff and I helped take it to the next level. To leave on a high note made me feel really good. People had been coming to games every season and had been disappointed in March so many times before.
Your .765 winning percentage ranks 3rd in the nation among active coaches behind Mark Few/Bill Self: what is the secret to being a great coach? Having the best players! I cannot even tell you what my record is because I do not focus on that. I have been fortunate to be at good programs with great staffs and coachable players. It will be hard-pressed to continue that in the SEC but we will give it a shot.
You were hired at Mississippi State last March: why did you take the job, and how is it going so far? When you do this for 31 years you learn/grow/get curious. A lot of coaches will talk about the fit with their family or the part of the country…but at the end of the day I get to compete against the best coaches/players in the nation every night so it is a dream come true. I was not sitting around hoping to get a specific job: that is not how it works.
1 of your new players is Jamel Horton, who was America East DPOY at Albany last year: what does he bring to the table? He has great size for his position and has good instincts on defense. He can really see the court on offense and will act as our QB. He has great experience so we are excited that he is here and learning our system as a PG. I like the progress that he has made so far.
Your non-conference schedule includes games against Marquette/Minnesota/TCU (plus either Georgia Tech/Utah in Game 2 of the Fort Myers Tipoff): which of these games do you feel will present your biggest test? If I was a neutral observer I would say that this coach is not very smart because it is a pretty tough schedule! There are a lot of games on our schedule on a neutral court (including Akron in Philly and Drake in Lincoln): if I was still at New Mexico State I would be licking my chops to get a chance at a team like Mississippi State! If we are successful in a majority of those games then it will look great at the end of the season.
What are your goals for this season, and what are your expectations for this season? We have daily expectations to go about our day at an elite level, be it on the practice court or in the weight room/study hall. If that eventually takes hold then you have a good program. We want to play to the best of our abilities and will be judged on our wins/losses so we will treat every game like the Super Bowl. Everyone is fresh and has big dreams but our goal is always to win games in March and go on a run.