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State introduces Chris Jans, as six SEC hoops jobs change hands

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State introduces Chris Jans, as six SEC hoops jobs change hands

Question: What does it tell you when six of the 14 universities in the Southeastern Conference have hired new men’s basketball coaches in a week’s time?

Answer: I don’t know. It just means more?

Rick Cleveland

In a way, it does tell you it means more – at least from a financial standpoint. It must. SEC schools, including Mississippi State, will pay many millions of dollars of buyout money to coaches who will not be their coach any more. They are doing that so they can hire new coaches and pay them more millions to succeed where their predecessors could not.

State, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Missouri and South Carolina all have hired new hoops coaches.

When nearly half of a league’s coaching jobs change hands, it also tells you these are difficult jobs where the only thing that exceeds the salaries are the expectation levels. Al Davis said it best: “Just win, baby!” Davis coached football, not basketball, and he coached in the pros, not colleges. But what he said surely applies to SEC basketball. Just win, baby! Win, or else.

Chris Jans, the new Mississippi State coach, brings sterling credentials to the job. To paraphrase Davis: Jans has just won, baby, everywhere he’s been and especially at his most recent job, New Mexico State.

Over the past five seasons, Jans’ New Mexico State teams have won 122 games while losing only 32. Three of those five teams made the NCAA Tournament. Contrast that with this: Mississippi State has made the NCAA Tournament once in the past 13 seasons.

The flip side: Look at the credentials Jans’ predecessor brought to Starkville. Before Ben Howland took the State job he had been selected Coach of the Year in three different conferences, had taken two Pittsburgh teams to the NCAA Sweet 16 and then taken three consecutive UCLA teams to the Final Four. Howland’s teams at Pitt and UCLA won nearly 70 percent of their games.

Howland’s Mississippi State teams won 58% of their games over seven seasons and went to the NCAA Tournament once. To be fair, Howland’s 2019-20 State team (20-11, 11-7) almost surely would have gone to the NCAA Tournament had not COVID caused cancellation of the post-season.

The point is, Howland – always a gentleman in all our dealings – is a proven winner and never had a losing season at State. Yet, he couldn’t do enough at State to keep his job for an eighth season.

Jans, who looks for all the world like Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, seemed nothing if not confident in his opening press conference Wednesday morning in Starkville. (Jans looks so much like Cruz, I had to check and make sure I was on the SEC Network, not CNN.)

“We’re going to play with confidence,” Jans said. “When we walk out of the tunnel, we’re going have a swagger about us, We’re going to believe in each other. We’re going to play together. We’re never going to step out on the floor without a chip on our shoulder. And we’re never going to fear anybody. We’re going to respect our opponents, but we’re going to be very prepared and treat every game like the Super Bowl.”

Jans’ winning percentage of .765 currently ranks fourth among active coaches (and that will soon be third because this is Mike Krzyzewski’s last season).

During the press conference Wednesday, a reporter mentioned that State has been to only one NCAA Tournament in the last 13 years and asked how long it would take Jans to remedy that.

Jans didn’t hesitate before answering. 

“Our goal is to be in the tournament next year,” Jans said. “You’re not going to hear me talking about building a program. In this day and age of transferring and the portal and with the landscape of college basketball, that’s not the way it is going to be done. You’ve got to build a team each and every year. With my junior college background, that’s what we’ve done for the most part over my entire career. I’m comfortable in this space. It’s been proven around the country, you can improve your fortunes in a hurry.”

Yes, you can. And, by the same token, your dreams can crash and burn in a hurry as well. Remember, similar press conferences were – or will be – going on at six different SEC schools. Everybody’s goal is to be in the NCAA Tournament every year.

More than half, most years, will fail. And that will lead to more multi-million buyouts – and more press conferences.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Mississippi News

Events happening this weekend in Mississippi: December 20-22

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www.wjtv.com – Kaitlin Howell – 2024-12-20 12:03:00

SUMMARY: This weekend (December 20-22), Mississippi offers a variety of festive events. In Jackson, enjoy Food Truck Friday, candlelight concerts, a Grinch movie screening, and Journey to the North Pole. In Ridgeland, experience Merry Bingo, Christmas on the Green, and Fleet Feet Coffee Run. Vicksburg hosts Rock the Halls, while Natchez offers a European Christmas Shopping Village. Other activities include Santa scuba diving at the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, Million Dollar Quartet Christmas, and Magic of Lights in Brandon. Hattiesburg features Lights of the Wild and Teddy Bear Tea with Santa. Numerous holiday events are available across the state.

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Mississippi News

Attorneys seek protective order in Jackson bribery case

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www.wjtv.com – Kaitlin Howell – 2024-12-19 14:36:00

SUMMARY: Prosecutors in Jackson are seeking a protective order to prevent the release of sensitive information in a bribery case involving Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens, Jackson Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba, and City Councilman Aaron Banks. The motion aims to protect personal, financial, and grand jury information, fearing it could impair investigations and fair trial rights. The three officials face charges related to a bribery scheme involving $80,000 in bribes for approving a real estate development project. Other individuals, including former City Councilwoman Angelique Lee and Sherik Marve Smith, are also implicated, with Smith pleading guilty to conspiracy.

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Suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO struggles, shouts while entering courthouse

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www.wjtv.com – MICHAEL R. SISAK and MARK SCOLFORO, Associated Press – 2024-12-10 14:27:00

SUMMARY: Luigi Nicholas Mangione, a 26-year-old Ivy League graduate, was arrested in Pennsylvania and charged with the murder of Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare. Mangione, who expressed disdain for corporate greed and the health insurance industry, was found with a gun matching the murder weapon and fraudulent IDs. He initially gave false identification but was recognized at a McDonald’s. Mangione, who wrote a three-page document expressing anti-corporate sentiments, is being extradited to New York. His family, shocked by his arrest, expressed condolences to Thompson’s family. Mangione had no prior criminal complaints but had a history of severe back pain.

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