Mississippi State didn’t wait around to find the next coach to lead its men’s basketball program.
The school has hired former New Mexico State coach Chris Jans to replace Ben Howland, MSU announced Sunday. Jans, 52, went 122-32 in five seasons with the Aggies.
“The Mississippi State Family is thrilled to welcome Chris Jans as our next head coach,” athletic director John Cohen said in a news release. “Throughout our thorough research, what stood out about Coach Jans was his culture of accountability, hard-working mentality, emphasis on player development, and vision for the future. Coach Jans is a proven leader and winner, who is considered by many to be one of the top coaches in the game. He is a tireless recruiter, brilliant Xs and Os tactician, and his overall résumé speaks for itself.”
Jans and New Mexico State finished their NCAA tournament Saturday with a 53-48 loss to Arkansas. The Aggies were a No. 12 seed in the West Region and beat No. 5 UConn in the first round before losing to the fourth-seeded Razorbacks.
By Sunday morning, Jans and Mississippi State had reached an agreement.
The Bulldogs moved quickly to select their new coach after parting ways with Howland after seven seasons Thursday. In Jans, they found a coach who took the Aggies to three of four NCAA tournaments during his tenure and won 25 or more games four times.
“Throughout Mississippi State’s men’s basketball history, we have shown that we can compete for championships at the highest level,” athletic director John Cohen said in a news release announcing Howland’s firing. “Serving as the head men’s basketball coach at Mississippi State is an outstanding opportunity, and the position will be highly sought after.”
Jans, who hails from Fairbank, Iowa, began his coaching career at Bowling Green. He led the Falcons to 21 wins and a CIT appearance in the 2014-15 season.
But Jans was fired after one season after a video surfaced of him slapping a woman’s buttocks at a local bar while intoxicated.
“The University concluded that Jans’ public conduct failed to meet his obligations as a head coach and the expectations that BGSU Athletics has for its coaches,” Bowling Green said in a statement on April 2, 2015.
Jans previously served as an assistant at Wichita State from 2007-2014 under Gregg Marshall. In Jans’ final season, the Shockers went 35-0 before losing in the second round of the NCAA tournament to Kentucky. Wichita State went 174-71 in Jans’ seven years with the program.
Jans also served as an assistant under current Oklahoma coach Porter Moser at Illinois State from 2004-07.
He led Chipola Junior College to its first conference title in a decade, going 32-5 in the 2003-04 season and making the NJCAA Division I tournament.. Before that, he spent the past two seasons at Howard College, going 49-14.
Jans began his head coaching career in 1996, winning 56 games in two seasons at Kirkwood (Iowa) Community College. The next year, he went 22-10 at Independence (Kansas) Community College before spending two years as an assistant at Idaho.
Jans’ first New Mexico State team earned a No. 12 seed in the NCAA tournament, losing in the first round to Clemson. The following year, the Aggies went 15-1 in Western Athletic Conference play, earned another No. 12 seed and came up one point short of upsetting No. 5 seed Auburn.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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