According to sources, Chris Jans is expected to be the next men's basketball coach at Mississippi State. A deal is expected to be finalized in the near future.
New Mexico State won its first NCAA tournament game in 40 years last week when Jans led the team to an upset of fifth-seeded Connecticut. Jans has been at New Mexico State for five years and has gone 122-32.
Ben Howland had a 134-98 record in Starkville and failed to win an NCAA tournament game in seven seasons. The deliberate pace of Howland's teams and his defensive-first style had begun to fall out of favor in the program.
Jans has been a Division I coach for six seasons, and he has been a head coach for five years in Las Cruces and one at Bowling Green. He has a.765 winning percentage, which is the fifth best in the nation.
State officials saw Jans work first-hand as New Mexico State beat Mississippi in December. In their loss to Arkansas in the second round of the tournament Saturday, the Aggies showed the same verve and fearlessness that they showed in their upset of Connecticut.
Jans was fired from Bowling Green in April 2015. An email was sent to the school detailing Jans behavior at a bar, which included a video of him touching a woman's buttocks. He was fired by Bowling Green for cause with five years left on his contract.
The fact that there have been no reported issues with Jans since he was fired seven years ago has built up a comfort level with Mississippi State officials.
According to a source, Mississippi State hired an outside law firm to research all candidates, and that group made calls to administrations, players and former staffers at Bowling Green, Wichita State and New Mexico State. They were able to build comfort with his candidacy.
Mississippi State spoke to former players at New Mexico State, and they were unanimous in their praise of Jans ability to maximize talents.
Mississippi State officials were attracted to Jans' toughness, but their research found him to be fair and players always found that Jans had their back.
Jans' background in junior college and New Mexico State prepared him well for the portal era, which is one of the reasons why Mississippi State chose him. He made three NCAA tournaments and won four regular season titles in five seasons at New Mexico, thanks to transfers and junior college players. The reality of the new era of college basketball is that roster continuity is a myth.
Jans was an assistant coach at the time of the Shockers' perfect regular season. Jans was the head coach at Kirkwood in 1998 when they won the Division II national championship.
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