WATCH: Coach Jans Media Session

STARKVILLE - Entering his fourth season, Chris Jans met to the media on Thursday as summer workouts began for Mississippi State men's basketball earlier this week.

2025-26 Mississippi State Men's Basketball Quotes
Media Session – June 5, 2025

Mississippi State Head Coach Chris Jans
Q: Where are you with the calendar right now, and can you take us through the plans for summer workouts?
CJ: "We're back on the floor. We chose to start yesterday. So, we get eight weeks on the floor with limited access to our student-athletes, per the NCAA rules. We get four hours of skill instruction Monday through Friday. Then, coach Dominic Walker gets four hours of strength and conditioning for a total of eight [hours]. Not on the weekends, just weekdays. That will be eight weeks structured around eight weeks of summer school at the same time."

"They changed the rules where if you're good to go academically, you don't necessarily have to take as many hours as you used to. That's an individual decision that the kids make on their own depending on where they are academically and what their goals are. Yesterday was the first day, and we're off and running."

Q: I'm sure it varies year-to-year. When you were recruiting the transfer portal, what were some things you were looking for?
CJ: "Yeah, good question. Every year, it's different. When the dust settles, you certainly know who you've signed in the November recruiting class, but you've kind of got to wait a little bit to know exactly what you're seeking depending on your portal departures."

"That was in real time. Combine that with how we felt a lot during the season. We needed to get bigger. We needed to get better on the glass, which is hard for me to admit because most of my teams historically have been really good in the rebounding department, but we felt like we had too many games where that was maybe a difference in the win/loss column. We tried to shore that up that way."

"We didn't obviously shoot the ball very well from three after coming off a year where we shot it much better in our second year, especially compared to our first year. So, we've been here three years now and have sandwiched a decent shooting team with two poor three-point shooting teams. So, certainly, we tried to address that."

"We thought going into the year, to be frank with you, that we had addressed it. I thought we had enough guys that could shoot the ball. For whatever reason as a group, we didn't end up shooting it as well as we had anticipated nor than when we had even started the season. I don't know all the why's of that, but those were the two biggest areas that we wanted to address is just having more guys that could shoot the ball, put the ball in the hole, and certainly rebound the basketball."

Q: I know other teams have this challenge as well. What was it like navigating the transfer portal but also not knowing for certain if Josh Hubbard was going to come back from the NBA Draft process?
CJ: "From my conversations with Josh and his family, I was glad that they went through that process. Hopefully, he learned a lot. Knowing Josh, I'm confident that he did. We had great communication behind the scenes throughout the process. I had a pretty good idea that unless something crazy happened, which if it did it did, we went through that process thinking for the most part that Josh was going to be apart of our basketball team … A lot of programs regardless of that, like you asked, have to deal with that issue, and we were no different this year."

Q: Shawn Jones [Jr.] is very good at what he does and the minutes he gets. Talk about his impact and his return to the program.
CJ: "We're excited for Shawn, and we're excited for us to have Shawn back. He's not a guy who is the leading scorer or sometimes even a big minute guy. He's helped us win a lot of basketball games. I've said this many times, but he somehow finds a way to get himself on the floor when it's hard especially the last few minutes of a lot of the close games he's played in. He'll be our first, four-year guy that we've had. He matched our arrival and came in with us. He was a late signee that first summer, and he didn't get here until the fall so he was a little behind the eight-ball going into his freshman year."

"In this era that we're coaching in, to have a four-year player right off the bat, is cool. It's not going to be the norm anymore. It'll be the exception. I think it speaks volumes to what Shawn values and what he's about. Certainly, going into his senior year and albeit a very short time period, he's already shown a willingness to step up and have a bigger voice. It's easy for two days. Hopefully, it's something that he'll continue doing because he's earned that right. The guys know that he's been here a long time. Certainly, the recruits that followed us closely and the ones that signed with us in the fall know, it's been a so far so good situation with him that way."

Q: During your first three seasons at the center position, you've had players like Tolu Smith [III] and KeShawn [Murphy]. You may disagree with me, but I would consider them more offensive-minded. You went and got Quincy Ballard who is more of a rim protector and more defensive-minded. How does a player like him change your defensive approach?
CJ: "I'm not going to disagree with you on the first part of your question. I basically answered that with what our focus was going into the portal season on what we were trying to address."

"I really felt like we just needed to be better around the basket defensively in a league where there are so many good players, and there's so much physicality around the basket. They're so many opposing players that have the ability to break the defense down and get to the rim. You add that with just how many ball screens are employed each and every game, and the level of what's going on in those ball screens. Having a quarterback on defense or a goalie would probably be more appropriate [term], is a big advantage. I've never felt like we've had that since we've been here. A guy that can protect the lane, a guy that can protect the rim and someone to protect some of the guys out front if they're getting beat."

"Certainly, not trying to put a ton of pressure or weight on his [Ballard's] back walking in the door, but it's a big reason why we went after him the way we did. Just from looking at his video and looking at his numbers, we felt like he was a great fit for what we were looking for. Obviously, he felt the same once he did his homework and cast his lot with us. We're excited to have him. Certainly, we've got a long way to go. Just on paper, he was exactly what we were looking for."

Q: I know it's super early, but what are your impressions of the freshmen class?
CJ: "They're bright-eyed and bushy tailed. The enthusiasm is off the charts. The togetherness, the work ethic and the bounce in their step. Obviously, I've been doing it long enough now. I think the kids hate it when I tell them this, and I haven't even shared this with them yet. I don't enjoy as much maybe as I used to the first couple of days of the return just because there's a lot of fake going on across the country. If you don't have enthusiasm and a bounce in your step on day one/day two, first week/second week, it's probably going to be a long year for that particular program."

"So, my thing is yeah, we have to start there, and I'm glad that we did. Ask me on day 21 or day 42, and I'll give you a better idea on how the new guys are doing. Having said that, one full day and one workout are all we're in as we speak, but time will tell."

Q: A lot of the pieces of the non-conference schedule have been released, a lot of high-profile games. I think it's the first time in 40 years that Memphis will be coming to campus. Is this another step in upgrading the schedule each year you have been here especially at home?
CJ: "Yeah, I'd like to think so. We've been intentional in our scheduling. To me, recruiting is number 1A and scheduling is probably 1B in terms of success of your program. Not necessarily wins and losses but trying to put each particular team in a situation where we have a chance to be an [NCAA Tournament] at-large team."

"When I arrived, that's what I talked about day one from the podium was putting together teams that had the chance to be an at large team and play in March Madness. Obviously, knock on wood, we've been successful and three-for-three in being able to do that, but we've also done of lot of work behind the scenes. There's a lot going on with scheduling. People say that, but I don't think unless you've been through it or hovered over it really understand the detail that goes into it. My staff has been unbelievable. [Assistant] Dillon Elder, 'Tex', has taken over the lion share of that work in the last two years. He's been really, really good at identifying situations, teams and projections to make us make better decisions on playing away, neutral, who, where, when and all of that goes into it."
"Certainly, it takes two to tango. There's a lot of work, a lot of phone calls, a lot of back and forth and a lot of getting left at the alter at times. We've got a model that is kind of is our baseline, and it's obviously been pretty good thus far at putting ourselves in positions. You're at the mercy of the SEC scheduling algorithm and all of the analytics that they use to spit out the [conference] schedule. Then, you kind of have to live with it because it isn't an even schedule. You aren't playing every team twice, home-and-home."

"We were fortunate last year because of the obvious, the SEC was on steroids with a historic season. So, we had so many [NCAA NET] Quad 1 and Quad 2 opportunities and so very, very minimal [NCAA NET] Quad 3 games. Is that going to remain the same? We felt like, and we didn't want to count on having that many opportunities in the SEC. So, we wanted to schedule maybe one more [NCAA NET] Quad 1 or Quad 2 opportunity than maybe we had the year before just to make sure we had enough opportunities in the fall."

"I think it's crucial to have those opportunities in the fall. It doesn't mean you've to win every one of them. We've been successful for the most part in winning a lot of those games, but even if we end up losing a game or two more than maybe we have, that's not the goal, but if we do, it's not going to hurt us or our numbers."

"We're trying to put our team in a position to be better and get better. Going to Iowa State the second game of the year on a neutral floor where their fan base is obviously much closer than ours, that won't be a 'neutral feel'. That will be a tough situation for us. What a great opportunity to see where we're at early – learn, grow and get better especially with a team that's fairly new which you're going to hear from everyone across the country for the most part."

"Scheduling is crucial. We spend a lot of time on it. I like it, and I like where it's at. It's not completely finished, but we're way ahead. We're close, we're real close to being done, and I think that if things fall into place like I anticipate it doing, we'll be really happy about it heading into the deeper part of the summer."

Q: Coach, you brought Jayden Epps from Georgetown who is as a dynamic scorer. How important was it to get another scorer along with Josh Hubbard, and how do you think his style meshes with him?
CJ: Yeah, I mean anytime we can get someone that can alleviate that pressure from Josh and maybe give us some more space on the court with having another guy on the court that is a dual threat like Josh is. Josh's game has grown to where he certainly has an unbelievable three-point game. But, each and every year and each and every month, he gets better at probing and getting in the lane and being more of a three-level scorer."

"Jayden is similar in that way. He doesn't rely on just the three. He doesn't rely on just being a driver or just being a paint eater. They have some similarities in that way. Hopefully, he will get comfortable right away and be a big part of what we're doing. Certainly, part of the plan like I said, was for him to come in and alleviate some of the scoring stress from Josh."

Mississippi State University Athletics

WATCH: Coach Jans Media Session

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