STARKVILLE — Chris Jans can’t help but be honest when other coaches ask him about Jans’ first few months at Mississippi State.
“‘Man, I’m not going to lie to you, it’s just been hard,’” Jans typically replies. “‘All you do is recruit.’”
For a new coach unfamiliar with the region — and still getting used to the humidity in Starkville — that can get to be a “heavy load,” Jans said at Monday’s meeting of the Starkville Rotary Club.
But with school underway and the Bulldogs’ season opener coming into view, Jans is starting to get comfortable.
The first-year coach told Rotary members that Mississippi State will open its season against Texas A&M–Corpus Christi on Nov. 7 in Starkville, part of college basketball’s opening day across the country.
“People are going to be questioning why I opened with a team like that, but that’s just the way it unfolded,” Jans said. “I have a mindset of, ‘If we can’t beat schools like that, then we’re not going to be any good anyway, so we might as well find out right away and start getting used to having a rough season.’”
But Jans doesn’t think it’ll be a bad year for a Bulldogs team featuring a mostly new roster. Star guard Iverson Molinar is NBA bound and several promising players left via the transfer portal, although big man Tolu Smith is among the returnees.
Returnees, Jans pointed out, is a relative term. The only Bulldogs player Jans has ever coached is forward Will McNair Jr., who followed Jans from New Mexico State to MSU. Jans has had to stop McNair from “cheating” by calling out coaches’ hand signals to teammates who are still trying to learn them.
Jans touted a transfer class featuring McNair, Oregon State guard Dashawn Davis, Southeast Missouri guard Eric Reed, Jr., Albany guard Jamel Horton and Southern Miss forward Tyler Stevenson — a New Hope High School graduate.
The new coach said his goal is to be a perennial contender for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament; conference championships or national titles could come along the way.
An eight-time tournament qualifier as a head coach and an assistant, Jans emphasized the importance of getting the Bulldogs back to the Big Dance for the first time since 2019.
“There’s nothing like it,” he said. “There’s nothing like March Madness. It’s the greatest show on Earth.”
Perhaps that’s why Jans assured tenacity from the Bulldogs. The coach said MSU will play every game — all 31 regular-season contests and any postseason games to come — “like the Super Bowl.”
Jans said rebounding, defense and toughness will be Mississippi State’s calling cards.
“We’re going to play really, really hard,” Jans said. “I promise you that. You’re going to never walk out of the Hump and be kicking the can and be muttering under your breath that our kids didn’t compete and leave everything on the floor and represent our university and our community in a positive way.”
For perhaps the first time, Jans has the resources to back that up. He admitted it wasn’t something he had at previous stops, including Illinois State, Wichita State, Bowling Green and NMSU.
He was warned by other coaches upon taking the MSU job in March about Starkville’s diminutive size, but the native of Fairbank, Iowa — population 1,406 — wasn’t fazed.
“I’m like, ‘I’m from a town of 1,000 people that doesn’t have a stoplight nor a fast-food (restaurant) within 10 minutes, so it’s going to feel like Dallas to me,’” Jans said.
The closer the Bulldogs get to their season opener, the better Jans expects to feel. Mississippi State’s full schedule will be released in the coming days, and beginning Sept. 26, MSU will be able to begin full practices.
Six weeks later, Jans’ first season in Starkville will — at long last for him — begin.
“We’ve got enough talent that I think we’re going to be very competitive,” Jans said.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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