Grateful And Driven
May 30, 2023 | Men's Basketball, Joel Coleman
Recently-promoted MSU men’s hoops assistant James Miller determined to help keep pushing Bulldog basketball forward.
STARKVILLE – James Miller was a junior college head coach when he had some of his first conversations with Chris Jans about a decade ago. Likely neither man could've predicted at the time that early seeds were being planted for what's turned out to be an incredibly fruitful relationship.
Last week, Miller was promoted to associate head coach at Mississippi State under Jans. It was the latest verse of a successful half-decade song that's seen Miller and Jans reach multiple NCAA Tournaments together – most recently last year with the Bulldogs.
To say Miller is thankful to have the trust of Jans and those at the top of the MSU athletic department is an understatement.
"It feels great to have the support of Coach and the administration," Miller said. "Obviously, I try to do a good job for all parties and try to help our guys be as good as they can possibly be on and off the court. So, for Coach to give me the [associate head coach] title is a pretty cool deal. To get something like that shows that the hard work is rewarded, so that's exciting."
Miller likely got a sense of déjà vu upon receiving his promotion. It's the second time in Miller's career that Jans has elevated Miller from assistant coach to associate head coach. It worked so well for Jans the first time, why not do it again, right?
"James Miller has been our associate head coach with or without the title," Jans said. "Coach Miller is a one-of-a-kind coach. He's a rarity in that he has no holes in his skill set. He can do it all."
Jans sees Miller as a rising star in the coaching world. That's been evident since Jans' initial promotion of Miller from assistant to associate head coach shortly after the two joined forces at New Mexico State.
Miller was first hired by Jans ahead of the 2018 campaign. Jans was looking to fill a vacancy on his Aggie staff and Miller knew the departing assistant, who'd asked Miller if he might be interested in taking his place.
Soon after, Miller was by Jans' side and after only one year, Jans bumped Miller up to be New Mexico State's associate head coach. All told in Las Cruces, Miller and Jans teamed up to take the Aggies to March Madness in two of three fully completed seasons. The duo also learned how well they click.
"I didn't know Coach extremely well before I worked for him, but obviously early on in the process of working for him, I learned how he operates and what he's about," Miller said. "I've been very blessed to work for him for what's now been five full years."
But what is it that makes Miller and Jans mesh?
"I really think we – and our whole staff – are just a bunch of egoless guys who are just driven to help young men become better and win basketball games," Miller said. "Obviously that's what Coach's approach is. He expects you to do your job and do it at a high level. He holds everybody accountable but is super fair with everybody. He treats you the way you deserve to be treated. I think that filters down through our staff. To work for someone like Coach who makes it so easy, because you know where you stand at all times, you know what the expectations are. That resonates with me and who I am, so it's a lot of fun to work with him because there are no unknowns. You just do the job and do it well. The way my brain functions, that's perfect."
Mississippi State is looking for the Jans-Miller magic to continue. After last season's run to the big dance, the Bulldog basketball family is hungry. Miller is certainly planning to do his part to feed them.
"We want to capitalize on the momentum we built last year," Miller said. "A lot of that had to do with the support we had from the community and the fans in The Hump. There was a time last year when the fans really carried us as we were going through our rough patch, and they didn't stop coming. They didn't stop cheering. They didn't stop pushing forward with us. So, we want to continue to give them a good product that they're excited to watch and excited to come support. The support has just been awesome since we've been here. It's been second to none. Hopefully we can keep making those people happy and excited about the program."
Of course, Miller and company will have plenty of help in the form of an incredibly strong Bulldog roster. All-SEC center Tolu Smith announced last weekend that he's returning to wear the Maroon and White for one more year. Smith and all the State veterans will be joined by an exciting bunch of newcomers – from transfers Andrew Taylor and Jimmy Bell, Jr., to freshman Josh Hubbard and junior college pickups Lorenzo Fort III and Jaquan Scott.
"I think we can make another step forward," Miller said. "We have a core group of returning guys. We've added in some talented young men that are coming in and joining those guys. The assumption is, based off how we handle our business, those guys that are coming back will continue to get better. For us, we have expectations in the room of duplicating what we just did last season and then some. I think that's going to be the goal. That's what we're going to strive for. I think we have enough pieces and talent to do that with the cohesion of the staff and the roster and who we've added."
There's absolutely promise aplenty for the 2023-24 Bulldogs, but there's also a unique challenge given how State put itself firmly back on the map last year.
"The expectations are there now," Miller said. "It's not that we didn't have expectations last year, but maybe they were a little bit tempered just based off of recent results of the program. Next year is going to be exciting. It really is. But it's going to be a very difficult challenge because of [opponents] giving you their very best shot. We can't sneak up on people now."
The Dawgs will be ready for the test though. Miller will help ensure it. He'll be striving to make his sixth year with Jans the best one yet, and Jans is thrilled to benefit from Miller's expertise once again as Miller continues his upward trajectory.
"He's going to make an athletic director and university happy very soon," Jans said of Miller. "Until then, he will continue to make our program better daily."
