WATCH: Coach Jans Media Session
August 23, 2023 | Men's Basketball
STARKVILLE - Mississippi State men's basketball head coach Chris Jans met with the media leading into the program's workouts on Wednesday te recap the team's recent trip to Portugal and much more.
2023-24 Mississippi State Men's Basketball Quotes
Media Session – August 23, 2023
Head Coach Chris Jans
Q: Outside of the team bonding, was there anything that stood out to you during the trip to Portugal?
CJ: "Fortunately, our team's trip didn't get cut short, but my part in it did. I had tremendous confidence that we wouldn't skip a beat in terms of what we were trying to get accomplished over there. Like I said prior to leaving, this was way more about the non-basketball part of the actual Portugal trip. Certainly, taking advantage of the extra practices that the NCAA allows when you go on one of these tours, was paramount for us to just get acclimated to our new team. Certainly, for our new guys to understand what we're trying to do."
"It was a much different summer than the first summer [last year] in terms of having everyone here. We had everyone in our program here for July. We had one player that wasn't with us in June because of a transcript issue that was worked out. It's just a different mindset and a different place for all of us in terms of what we got accomplished. We had a pretty good idea that the competition wasn't going to be what we would see over here even in the non-conference portion of the schedule, not even talking about the SEC. So, we were prepared for that. Our mentality was to play everyone equal minutes, switch around lineups, look at different lineups and more importantly just have fun with it. Certainly, the guys were excited for the games. For us, it was more just the experience of going over there together and what we could gain from that."
Q: What are some of the benefits that the newcomers got out of the Portugal trip?
CJ: "Again, I wouldn't read too much into any video that you watched, or certainly any box scores that are available because we really played everyone equal minutes. My number one thing was to make sure everyone had opportunities … The new guys, what a great opportunity for them. It was probably more beneficial for them than the returnees in terms of getting used to playing in the system that we're trying to implement and just getting comfortable. A lot of guys did well over there both returnees and new."
Q: Do you have any update on Dashawn Davis's status, and do you expect him to be ready when the season comes around?
CJ: "Rams [Dashawn Davis] had foot surgery [in July]. I can't even tell you the exact date. It was weeks ago. So, he's been on a scooter ever since, and he's still on one. We're taking our time with his recovery. We expect him back sometime this fall. I would say in the next few weeks rather than months. So, if everything goes as planned, he certainly won't miss any games, but he'll have some catching up to do from the obvious of cardio, rhythm, etcetera. So far, so good, for getting him back on the timeline that they've put in place."
Q: What do you feel like you program gets out of neutral site games?
CJ: "I would love to have more home games, but it takes two to tango. It's hard, every coach in America talks to their people about how difficult scheduling is. Unfortunately, it's August 23rd, and we're still scheduling. We still haven't gotten everything complete. We're closer, and we're getting down to it where what happens in the fall is there's only x amount of teams that have dates and games left. So, you almost have to pair up. You're forced to pair up to get your schedule complete. That's kind of where we're at right now. We've got one or two dates that we haven't completely scheduled yet."
"In terms of the neutral site games, there's a lot of different reasons for it. Some of them are due to NIL opportunities that the promoters will put on. We're always trying to get in that market if we can. Some of it is just to play quality opponents. When you play in those neutral site games, you've got a better chance to get a higher quad one or quad two opportunity than you do if it's at home. Even though both teams look at it the same way where I don't have to play in front of each other's fanbases, but a better opportunity to get a quad one or quad two game than it would be if you played them at home. It would be a quad three or quad two, or what have you depending on how they do in the season [if you played the game at home]."
"So, there's certainly a lot of strategy that goes into it when you're trying to put together those 13 non-league games. You want to have enough opportunities to put yourself in a position going into the SEC, where you know that you're going to get plenty of them [quad 1 and quad 2 games]. I kind of think every year depends on what kind of team you think you're going to have. For instance, this year when it completely gets itself unveiled, it's more challenging than it was last year. We had a good schedule last year, but hopefully there will be more opportunities for quad one and quad two games before we get into the SEC."
Q: How are you handling risen expectations with the team?
CJ: "In this day and age, you can't hide from it. It's certainly going to be different than last year. I think most coaches are in the mode of lowering expectations this time of the year, especially if you've been around the block once or twice. If I come into these situations when I've got the opportunity to talk to the media – if I'm sitting here and talking about how tough it's going to be and trying to lower expectations when you're coming off a team that went to the [NCAA] Tournament and has that many people back, people will be rolling their eyes at it."
"We try to tell the truth to everybody when we're dealing with these kinds of situations, but we're going to lean into it. We're going to lean into it, it's already been discussed. We're not going to sneak up on anybody this year than maybe we did last year early in the season a little bit. We popped some people and surprised some people. That won't be the case this year. So, it's going to be different. It's going to be a different feel, but that's where you want to be. You want to be recognized. You want to have people taking notice of your team and of your program. That's where we're at going into year two."
"Hopefully, the guys will understand that. I'm not saying we're going to have a 'X' on our back, but we aren't going to be taken lightly. People are going to be preparing for us using last year's success and who we got back in their team rooms when they're trying to prepare to play our team. So, I wouldn't call it pressure or anything like that. It's just reality, and we're going to have to change our mindset a little bit."
2023-24 Mississippi State Men's Basketball Quotes
Media Session – August 23, 2023
Head Coach Chris Jans
Q: Outside of the team bonding, was there anything that stood out to you during the trip to Portugal?
CJ: "Fortunately, our team's trip didn't get cut short, but my part in it did. I had tremendous confidence that we wouldn't skip a beat in terms of what we were trying to get accomplished over there. Like I said prior to leaving, this was way more about the non-basketball part of the actual Portugal trip. Certainly, taking advantage of the extra practices that the NCAA allows when you go on one of these tours, was paramount for us to just get acclimated to our new team. Certainly, for our new guys to understand what we're trying to do."
"It was a much different summer than the first summer [last year] in terms of having everyone here. We had everyone in our program here for July. We had one player that wasn't with us in June because of a transcript issue that was worked out. It's just a different mindset and a different place for all of us in terms of what we got accomplished. We had a pretty good idea that the competition wasn't going to be what we would see over here even in the non-conference portion of the schedule, not even talking about the SEC. So, we were prepared for that. Our mentality was to play everyone equal minutes, switch around lineups, look at different lineups and more importantly just have fun with it. Certainly, the guys were excited for the games. For us, it was more just the experience of going over there together and what we could gain from that."
Q: What are some of the benefits that the newcomers got out of the Portugal trip?
CJ: "Again, I wouldn't read too much into any video that you watched, or certainly any box scores that are available because we really played everyone equal minutes. My number one thing was to make sure everyone had opportunities … The new guys, what a great opportunity for them. It was probably more beneficial for them than the returnees in terms of getting used to playing in the system that we're trying to implement and just getting comfortable. A lot of guys did well over there both returnees and new."
Q: Do you have any update on Dashawn Davis's status, and do you expect him to be ready when the season comes around?
CJ: "Rams [Dashawn Davis] had foot surgery [in July]. I can't even tell you the exact date. It was weeks ago. So, he's been on a scooter ever since, and he's still on one. We're taking our time with his recovery. We expect him back sometime this fall. I would say in the next few weeks rather than months. So, if everything goes as planned, he certainly won't miss any games, but he'll have some catching up to do from the obvious of cardio, rhythm, etcetera. So far, so good, for getting him back on the timeline that they've put in place."
Q: What do you feel like you program gets out of neutral site games?
CJ: "I would love to have more home games, but it takes two to tango. It's hard, every coach in America talks to their people about how difficult scheduling is. Unfortunately, it's August 23rd, and we're still scheduling. We still haven't gotten everything complete. We're closer, and we're getting down to it where what happens in the fall is there's only x amount of teams that have dates and games left. So, you almost have to pair up. You're forced to pair up to get your schedule complete. That's kind of where we're at right now. We've got one or two dates that we haven't completely scheduled yet."
"In terms of the neutral site games, there's a lot of different reasons for it. Some of them are due to NIL opportunities that the promoters will put on. We're always trying to get in that market if we can. Some of it is just to play quality opponents. When you play in those neutral site games, you've got a better chance to get a higher quad one or quad two opportunity than you do if it's at home. Even though both teams look at it the same way where I don't have to play in front of each other's fanbases, but a better opportunity to get a quad one or quad two game than it would be if you played them at home. It would be a quad three or quad two, or what have you depending on how they do in the season [if you played the game at home]."
"So, there's certainly a lot of strategy that goes into it when you're trying to put together those 13 non-league games. You want to have enough opportunities to put yourself in a position going into the SEC, where you know that you're going to get plenty of them [quad 1 and quad 2 games]. I kind of think every year depends on what kind of team you think you're going to have. For instance, this year when it completely gets itself unveiled, it's more challenging than it was last year. We had a good schedule last year, but hopefully there will be more opportunities for quad one and quad two games before we get into the SEC."
Q: How are you handling risen expectations with the team?
CJ: "In this day and age, you can't hide from it. It's certainly going to be different than last year. I think most coaches are in the mode of lowering expectations this time of the year, especially if you've been around the block once or twice. If I come into these situations when I've got the opportunity to talk to the media – if I'm sitting here and talking about how tough it's going to be and trying to lower expectations when you're coming off a team that went to the [NCAA] Tournament and has that many people back, people will be rolling their eyes at it."
"We try to tell the truth to everybody when we're dealing with these kinds of situations, but we're going to lean into it. We're going to lean into it, it's already been discussed. We're not going to sneak up on anybody this year than maybe we did last year early in the season a little bit. We popped some people and surprised some people. That won't be the case this year. So, it's going to be different. It's going to be a different feel, but that's where you want to be. You want to be recognized. You want to have people taking notice of your team and of your program. That's where we're at going into year two."
"Hopefully, the guys will understand that. I'm not saying we're going to have a 'X' on our back, but we aren't going to be taken lightly. People are going to be preparing for us using last year's success and who we got back in their team rooms when they're trying to prepare to play our team. So, I wouldn't call it pressure or anything like that. It's just reality, and we're going to have to change our mindset a little bit."
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's BasketballJosh Hubbard - "I'm Back"
Friday, April 17
MEN'S BASKETBALL | Chris Jans & Players SEC Tournament Postgame vs. Auburn - 3/11/26
Thursday, March 12
MEN'S BASKETBALL | Chris Jans Media Session - 3/9/26
Monday, March 09
MEN'S BASKETBALL | Josh Hubbard & Ja'Borri McGhee Postgame Press Conference vs. Georgia - 3/7/26
Sunday, March 08