Chris Jans: Six Months At State (Part 2)
October 18, 2022 | Men's Basketball, Joel Coleman
Continuing an inside look at how Jans put together his first Bulldog team.
(Note: CLICK HERE for Part 1)
STARKVILLE – Construction is going on all around Mississippi State head basketball coach Chris Jans.
MSU continues the process of renovating the Humphrey Coliseum and every day, new pieces are getting put into place. It's basically been the case since Jans' arrival back in March.
"That's been interesting to say the least," Jans said. "You can't walk in [the office] or you can't be in The Hump and not see it or feel it."
It's fitting actually. For as the home of the Dawgs has undergone its rebuilding, Jans has had his own figurative hardhat on putting together his first MSU squad.
Ultimately, Tolu Smith, Cameron Matthews, D.J. Jeffries, Shakeel Moore and KeShawn Murphy all realized they looked plenty good in Maroon and White. All stuck around to continue their Bulldog careers.
But who would join them?
**********
First things first. Jans had a staff to put together. Or, as it turned out, keep together.
Within a couple of weeks of Jans' hire, he announced he was bringing assistants James Miller and David Anwar with him from New Mexico State.
"We were on the phone and said, 'The band is back together,'" Anwar said, recalling the conversation he had with Jans.
It should come as no surprise Miller and Anwar are now in Starkville. While Jans became one of the country's top head coaches out West in Las Cruces, Miller and Anwar were his right-hand men.
Anwar assisted Jans all five years Jans was at New Mexico State. Miller was there the last four seasons.
The trio's results speak for themselves. The Aggies went 122-32 over Jans' five-year tenure. They made the NCAA Tournament in three of those seasons.
With the help of Anwar and Miller, Jans will begin his MSU career with the third-best winning percentage among all active Division I men's basketball coaches.
The three men just work together like a fine-tuned machine. Part of it is the similar paths they've all taken to get to this point – all with backgrounds that have featured stops at lower levels of basketball from high school on up.
"None of us have famous parents," Miller said. "None of us have the silver spoon or [have had] things handed to us. We've all worked to get to this point."
Jans believes he's incredibly fortunate to have the chance to keep doing his thing with Miller and Anwar at his side.
"James Miller is an elite basketball coach," Jans said. "Our student-athletes and our program will benefit daily from his talent and his expertise."
And on Anwar:
"Coach Anwar is a tireless worker armed with a resume of production," Jans said. "He is an exceptional relationship builder with student-athletes and everyone he meets."
After the additions of Miller and Anwar, there was one more spot for Jans to fill on his bench. Who better than a man who has Maroon and White pulsating through his veins?
George Brooks already had more than a decade of loyal service to State, working under previous head coaches Rick Stansbury, Rick Ray and Ben Howland. Jans made sure his own name got added to that list.
"George Brooks is a Bulldog," Jans said. "He is synonymous with Mississippi State basketball…I have quickly learned how revered and how respected Coach Brooks is across the state of Mississippi and the country. George has been invaluable as we mold our program to fit our vision."
**********
So what, exactly, has been Jans' vision the last few months? How did he go about finding the guys he needed?
Well, he did what he does best. He went to work.
"It starts with recruiting," Jans explained. "It starts with identifying some young men you'd like to have in your program. While you're doing that, you're evaluating the heck out of them – as people and certainly as players. Are they going to fit? Will they fit the culture and the expectation that you have in your mind for this program, even though it's more in your mind than on paper because you're just getting started?
"You've got to understand as best you can what kind of student-athlete you're recruiting. Do they have the personality? Do they have the work ethic? Do they have the mindset you're looking for?"
Outside of all that, for Jans and staff, position mattered when putting together the current bunch of Bulldogs. This wasn't some fishing trip where lines were cast into the water and the first thing that bit was reeled in.
No, Jans and company made sure their pieces fit and that no square pegs were being jammed into round holes.
"Position is always a factor in our recruiting," Jans said. "It always has been and always will be. You're building a team, so you have to have different parts that go into making your team. You have to have different skill sets, different sizes, different shapes. Very rarely do we ever get into situations where we're just trying to find the best player that fits our expectations and our culture."
In early-to-mid April, things started falling into place.
Guard Dashawn Davis' signing was announced on April 14. He led the Pac-12 in assists a season ago at Oregon State.
In early May, forward Will McNair, Jr. officially came to MSU, following Jans, Miller and Anwar from New Mexico State. But it wasn't just the previous tie that led McNair to Starkville.
The Bulldog coaches believe McNair – a player who has progressed every year of his career – can bring tremendous value to the MSU roster, notwithstanding some extra benefits as well.
"That's certainly been an added bonus that we can throw [McNair] out there at times as an example for how to do a drill or how to move the way we're asking them to move on a defensive technique," Jans said. "I'm too old and fat to be on the floor trying to do that anymore. Unfortunately, I still try every once in a while and I think the guys snicker. I know they snicker in the locker room. I don't think they're brave enough to do it on the court yet, but I'm sure that'll happen over time."
Following McNair, the additions kept coming. There was guard Eric Reed, Jr. from Southeast Missouri State – a guy who was an All-Ohio Valley Conference First Team pick a season ago.
Later, the 2021-22 America East Defensive Player of the Year, guard Jamel Horton, transferred in from UAlbany.
Forward Tyler Stevenson – a Columbus, Mississippi native who grew up wanting to play at MSU – fulfilled his dream when he transferred in from Southern Miss where he was one of just three USM players to score over 1,200 points and grab 600 rebounds during the 2000s.
Jans' initial set of Bulldogs was constructed. When constructing something though – whether it's an arena or a team – it's imperative all the materials are able to fit together to make a solid structure.
So how are the returnees and the transfers and the freshmen all bonding?
"People talk about chemistry a lot and it's an important part of your program," Jans said. "How you get there takes time. You can't force it, in my opinion. It has to happen organically for it to be the best kind of chemistry. Some of it is you kind of hope for it a little bit. You try to put them in situations where the end result could be a step in the right direction for that togetherness, for that chemistry. You do certain things throughout the year to foster that kind of environment with the idea this could potentially help us get closer to one another.
"From where I sit and my perspective, my closest teams when practice was over would hang out with one another on the court. Or they would hang out in the training room. You're seeing a lot of that where they're talking to each other. They're staying after practice and working with another teammate or two and getting extra shots up. I can hear the balls bouncing up from my office long after practice is over, which is a good thing to hear, especially in your first year when you're trying to build that mindset. Again, I can't speak for them, but I like where we're at. Certainly, it can get better, but I do believe they have a chance to be a tight-knit unit as we forge ahead into the game portion of our season."
**********
Less than three weeks remain before those games start. All of the building has led up to this.
But the thing about coaching is the construction never really stops. And that's OK. Jans has never been and will never be the kind of guy that takes his foot off the gas anyway.
"You always want more," Jans said. "You always want it to be better. You want your recruiting to be better. You want your workouts to be better. You want to have a get-better mentality in everything we're doing on the court, off the court, in the classroom, in the community, on campus. So, we're just striving to get everybody – staff, players, support staff – to meet the standard of expectations that we've set for our program.
"We're striving for perfection, but I know that's not realistic. So, if you get real close to that, it's still pretty darn good."
