STARKVILLE, Miss. Bulldog supporters were thrilled when Chris Jans, the men’s basketball coach at Mississippi State, arrived in the spring of 2022. Everywhere the former head coach of New Mexico State has gone, he has been successful, and he has quickly raised the bar for men’s basketball in Starkville.
Under Richard Williams, MSU had successful runs in the mid-to late-1990s, making it to the Final Four in 1996. Under Rick Stansbury, MSU won the SEC in 2002. However, there was a rough patch for the program following Stansbury’s resignation in 2012. Shortly after, Rick Ray was hired, but his tenure was appalling; with a 37–60 record, he was fired in 2015.
The next State head coach, Ben Howland, created a lot of buzz both locally and nationally. The former UCLA coach coached several NBA players, including Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love, and Jrue Holiday, and guided the Bruins to three straight Final Fours between 2006 and 2008.
In the end, he wasn’t the right fit and was never able to overcome his disappointment, as his MSU teams went 134-98 and only made it to one NCAA tournament during his time there. But Howland gave Jans a strong foundation of players in DJ Jeffries, Tolu Smith, and Cameron Matthews to work with.
In his first year, Jans helped the Bulldogs return to the NCAA tournament by building upon that core and adding reliable players like Shakeel Moore and Dashawn Davis through the transfer portal. In 2022, State finished with a 21-13 record and fell to Pitt 60-59 in the NCAA play-in game.
Although the season came to a difficult conclusion, Matthews, Jeffries, Smith, Moore, and Davis would all be back. It’s very uncommon these days for State to have all five starters from a team that qualified for the NCAA tournament back.
Josh Hubbard, a product of Madison, Mississippi, would also join MSU via the high school ranks. As the First-Team All-SEC freshman member who led the Bulldogs in scoring at 17 points per game, the former MRA Patriot played a crucial role in getting the team back to the NCAA tournament.
In terms of results, State’s second season under Jans was comparable to his first, ending 21-14 in 2023. Nevertheless, State avoided the play-in round of the NCAA tournament with three victories over the top ten teams.
In the round of 64, State would play Michigan State, and the Spartans would defeat the team 69-51 to end State’s season. State improved under Jans once more, but he would need to replace Moore, Davis, Jeffries, and Smith./cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9425845/usa_today_9858058.jpg)
Fortunately for the Bulldogs, both star freshman Hubbard and Matthews decided to come back for a fifth season. Today’s college athletes know that a roster makeover can be achieved by skillfully utilizing the transfer portal, and Jans did just that.
In addition, it appears from the players he signed that the Bulldogs will adopt a new approach this winter. State brought in three players who averaged at least nine points per game from other power six schools: Claudell Harris Jr. (Boston College), Riley Kugel (Florida), and Kanye Clary (Penn State).
