WATCH: Chris Jans Media Session

STARKVILLE - Mississippi State men's basketball coach Chris Jans met with the media on Monday.

2022-23 Mississippi State Men's Basketball
August 15th, 2022

Head Coach Chris Jans
Q: How close is this year's schedule to being wrapped up apart from the SEC announcing their dates?
CJ: "We're done other than getting some contracts signed and routed through campuses. That's all we're waiting on obviously if nothing goes awry. We know dates and opponents etcetera –
we're just waiting to be able to release it to the public. I'm sure it's going to be days now. Hopefully, real soon we'll be able to release that schedule."

Q: What do you think of the roster you've put together this season?
CJ: "We're a work in progress like probably most teams around the country, but I've been impressed with our players and their coachability. They've had great demeanors, approaches and attitudes from the jump. You just never know when you're piecing a team together in your first year with returnees and signing new guys to the program all summer long."

"That's what stuck out the most was that they listened well, they were about it and they've bought in. We're certainly dipping our toes in shallow water right now, but we'll ramp up as we get going here in the fall. Certainly, when we get to the 42 days out of the first game, is when you can go full throttle with practice and training. I thought we had a pretty good summer considering where we're at roster wise."

Q: It's been almost five months since you've gotten to Starkville. What has it been like adjusting to these new surroundings?
CJ: "Other than the humidity, it's been great. To be honest with you, that was my biggest adjustment … The city has been awesome. They've welcomed us with open arms. [My wife] Sheri and I have been able to meet a bunch of folks in the community and start building relationships and friendships that will last forever. People are very prideful of their Bulldogs. I love being in a place where it means so much to so many. I'm looking forward to the fall, being a part of the pageantry of SEC football and being able to watch high level games that we'll be seeing real soon."

Q: How big is it to bring guys like Tolu Smith, Shakeel Moore, Cameron Matthews and D.J. Jeffries that played last year back to the team to mesh with the new group?
CJ: "It's critical. The first thing we talked about when we arrived was that there was nothing more important than recruiting the guys we inherited and evaluating them at the same time. Sometimes, people forget it's a two-way street. We're coming in here to evaluate them as players and people just as they are us when we had those initial discussions and conversations with the guys, their mentors and their family members."

"When the dust settled, we felt really good about the guys that elected to come back and continue their careers here. It was crucial to get the guys you mentioned that were critical players for last year's team and in some cases even before that. We're really glad they stayed, and hopefully they feel the same way. We've got a lot of work to do."

Q: What was it like navigating the transfer portal as you tried to build a brand-new roster?
CJ: "It's nonstop, guys are literally refreshing the transfer portal at the height of it because people are jumping in it so quickly. You had to try to be on top of it. You could literally be behind if you weren't contacting a person or his people within 24 hours. It was an hourly deal at the height of it where you were staying abreast of who's available and who you could start recruiting. Some of those processes are more sprints than they are marathons."

"It's more sprint recruiting now. It's been documented, talked about and wrote about. We're very comfortable in that space. Most of my staff had been at junior college and signing big classes was not that new for us. Even at New Mexico State, we took a lot of older kids and junior college transfers to do a lot of sprint recruiting there. We hit the ground running when it comes to that, but it is certainly different than it used to be."

Q: How excited are you to be able to play at and see the new and revamped Humphrey Coliseum?
CJ: "It's awesome, I hadn't been down here in a while. With the construction going on and the way it is, I try not to lose my focus during the day watching the gentlemen moving the earth and buildings. Once in a while, I have a little bit of that in me because they are banging something."

"I have a bird's eye view of what's being done, and they are working. It's nonstop, and they're not messing around. I've found myself telling myself to not get distracted because they're working right outside my window. It's exciting, it's a big sell for us and the pictures and videos we have access to are really cool. They've done a good job – the parents, recruits and people that have come through here have gotten wide-eyed when we've shown them."

WATCH: Chris Jans Media Session

Players Mentioned

D.J. Jeffries

Cameron Matthews

Shakeel Moore

Tolu Smith III

Mississippi State University Athletics