STARKVILLE — When James Miller got into coaching nearly two decades ago, he would have killed for an opportunity at the Southeastern Conference level.
Instead, it took time.
Miller spent his first 10 seasons at NCAA Division II Colorado State–Pueblo and New Mexico Junior College. He then spent one year each as an assistant at Omaha, Arkansas State and North Texas.
But spending the past four years on Chris Jans’ staff at New Mexico State helped get Miller the shot he was looking for.
“This is what it’s all about,” the first-year Mississippi State assistant said.
Miller has helped the Bulldogs get off to an 8-0 start in their first season under Jans, who was hired away from NMSU on March 20.
Eight days later, Jans brought Miller with him.
Miller, who served as an assistant at New Mexico State for one season before being elevated to associate head coach for the next three, said getting the chance to work on an SEC staff for someone he considers a mentor and friend “doesn’t happen very often.”
“As long as I’ve worked with Coach, I’ve enjoyed every single day of it,” he said. “I really have.”
Miller praised Jans’ ability to coach defense and to get his players to buy into his philosophy, a pair of factors that have propelled the Bulldogs to the No. 23 ranking in the country.
But perhaps more valuable is Jans’ refusal to “punt” on areas in which he’s less skilled. Miller said Jans isn’t willing to concede defeat in any area of the sport.
“The thing about Coach is, he doesn’t have any holes in his game,” Miller said. “He’s always evolving. He’s always trying to do better.”
Mississippi State’s success so far has come despite losing leading scorer Iverson Molinar to the professional ranks. North Carolina transfer Garrison Brooks exhausted his eligibility, and several other role players entered the transfer portal after Ben Howland’s March 17 firing.
Filling countless holes was “tough,” Miller acknowledged, but nothing he and Jans — who made three junior-college coaching stops — weren’t used to.
The Bulldogs landed a transfer class led by Oregon State point guard Dashawn Davis. New Mexico State big man Will McNair Jr., Southeast Missouri guard Eric Reed, Jr., Albany guard Jamel Horton Jr. and Southern Miss forward Tyler Stevenson also joined up with Jans and his new staff.
Miller said MSU’s returning players, led by big man Tolu Smith, have been on board from the start.
“They’ve done a really good job of buying in really from the beginning,” he said.
Top signee Riley Kugel decommitted after Howland’s firing and later flipped to Florida, but Jans managed to retain freshmen Kimani Hamilton and Martavious Russell.
Miller noted recruiting as an SEC coach has certainly been a change from what he’s used to.
“I’ve been at a lot of different places,” he said. “Every school has its warts, right? Every school has things that it could have better or worse or what have you. But you walk into a gym and you’re in the SEC, it carries some weight. It’s a little different.”
As a coach accustomed to — as Miller put it — “not the SEC amenities,” having Mississippi State’s resources at his disposal has been a welcome change.
The people he and his family have met, too, have made Miller’s time in Starkville a good one so far.
“They’ve been very supportive of us,” he said. “It’s been awesome. We’ve loved every minute of it.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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