If there’s one thing Chris Jans wants to stop talking about, it’s his hole-in-one.
News of Mississippi State’s head men’s basketball coach sinking an ace while golfing trickled out online in the last few weeks and was a significant talking point at SEC’s men’s hoops media days last week. The outburst of news made it seem as if it was a recent accomplishment, but he actually did it in July.
“I’m not sure why it’s becoming public now, but yeah it was awesome,” Jans said.
Chatting about golf was a light way to begin his talk Monday at the Starkville Rotary Club about the challenges of the upcoming basketball season and his new and returning players as the Bulldogs get ready to embark on their fourth season under Jans. He’s led State to three straight NCAA Tournament appearances, all first-round exits, including last season’s 75-72 loss to Baylor. But before he delved into what’s new for MSU hoops, he touched on the football program’s recent 23-21 loss at Florida and urged fans to keep supporting the team.
“I am a huge fan of (head football coach) Jeff Lebby. I’ve gotten to know him, and listen, we’re all fans. I don’t know about ya’ll, but there’s maybe one or two who have been a Division I football coach in the room, and I can probably relate a little bit, but it’s hard. All of those teams are trying to win, too. They’re on scholarships, they get NIL, their coaches get paid and people are complaining about, ‘Should’ve done this, should’ve done that,’ and hindsight is 20-20 for all of us, including me. But they weren’t complaining when we moved the ball down the floor, or field, by passing the ball.
“We had a snafu there at the end that could’ve, would’ve cost us, I don’t know. I just hate when I see it online. … I can tell you nobody is hurting worse than those coaches and those players, and I know we all wanted it to happen; It would’ve been glorious. But he is an unbelievable guy and an unbelievable coach, and if you’ve ever been around him, his energy, how he relates to this community is off the charts. I hope everyone continues to stick with him and their staff and their program. They’ve made great strides.”
While the football program is focused on taking on Texas this week, MSU’s basketball program with Jans at the helm has been working on getting ready for an exhibition game against Houston, the national runners-up, in Rosenberg, Texas, on Sunday. Eleven of the Bulldogs’ 15 players fans will see this season are new to the program and four are freshmen as part of a No. 11 ranked recruiting class. Coming out of high school are forward Jamarion Davis-Fleming, a 6-foot-10, No. 97 overall recruit from Canton; guard Cameren Paul, a 6-foot-7 four-star prospect; guard King Grace, a 6-foot-5, No. 75 overall recruit; and Tee Bartlet, a 6-foot-11 four-star center.
“We really like all four, but they are still freshmen and they’re going to be freshmen for a while,” Jans said. “We’re trying to speed them up as much as we can, and with these limited roster spots, one or two of them are going to have to play. We’re going to have to get them into the rotation just because we just have some holes.”
Also new are UAB transfer guard Ja’Borri McGhee, Montana State transfer forward Brandon Walker, Georgetown transfer guard Jayden Epps, Arizona State transfer forward Amier Ali, Wichita State transfer center Quincy Ballard, Kansas State forward Achor Achor, who recently had season-ending knee surgery, and Sergej Macura, an overseas addition from Serbia.
The team will be led by Second Team All-SEC guard Josh Hubbard, who rejoined the program for his junior season after testing the NBA Draft waters. It’s a lot of new faces, something Jans said coaches and fans will have to get used to seeing for the foreseeable future in college basketball, and it’s been a challenge to get everything and everyone ready for tip off.
“About a week ago I was getting some frustration internally about our identity,” Jans said. “I know what I want our identity to be for this year’s team, and I have something to do with it, I don’t have everything to do with it, and it just didn’t feel like we were getting to where I wanted them to be. … It takes longer. We’re more than in the infant stages, but not having that many returnees, that’s hard to get everybody on the same page. I think identities across the country are going to be forming…a little bit later than they normally are because of the obvious. You just don’t have seven or eight guys that have been there, done that and they understand the expectations and standards of how we practice. Even the schemes and terminology, it takes time.”
It’s all hands on deck trying to get ready for the first game of the season on Nov. 4 when North Alabama comes to town. It’s the start of a new year for Jans and a new squad, but the goal of a deep run in March remains the same. Jans is not happy with how his first three trips have finished.
“I’m not satisfied with just making the tournament,” Jans said. … “Going on these magical runs in March Madness that we all want to be a part of. We all want to be a part of it for memories, we want to make our fanbase proud of it and stick their chest out and all of that, our kids, too, and their families. I feel as if it’s a timing thing, and in order to go on a run you have to be in the tournament, and we have been. Hopefully we will again this year, time will tell. But I want to make clear that we understand what the expectation is and that’s what everybody wants, and I promise you that no one wants it more than our players and our coaches and all the people that are with us every single day.”
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
