Christopher Paul Jans (born April 12, 1969) is the American college basketball head coach for Mississippi State. Jans previously coached at New Mexico State, where he led the Aggies from 2017 to 2022. Jans is a graduate of Loras College, and hails from Fairbank, Iowa.
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Current position | |
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Title | Head coach |
Team | Mississippi State |
Conference | SEC |
Record | 42–27 (.609) |
Biographical details | |
Born | Fairbank, Iowa, U.S. | April 12, 1969
Playing career | |
1987–1991 | Loras |
Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
1991–1994 | Elmhurst (assistant) |
1994–1996 | Grand View (assistant) |
1996–1998 | Kirkwood CC |
1998–1999 | Independence CC |
1999–2001 | Idaho (assistant) |
2001–2003 | Howard JC |
2003–2004 | Chipola |
2004–2007 | Illinois State (assistant) |
2007–2014 | Wichita State (assistant) |
2014–2015 | Bowling Green |
2015–2017 | Wichita State (special assistant) |
2017–2022 | New Mexico State |
2022–2024 | Mississippi State |
Head coaching record | |
Overall | 185–71 (.723) (college) 159–45 (.779) (junior college) |
Tournaments | 1–5 (NCAA) 1–1 (CIT) |
Accomplishments and honors | |
Championships | |
NJCAA Division II tournament (1998) 2 ICCAC regular season (1997, 1998) Panhandle regular season (2004) 4 WAC regular season (2018–2020, 2022) 3 WAC tournament (2018, 2019, 2022) | |
Awards | |
NJCAA Division II Coach of the Year (1998) 3× WAC Coach of the Year (2018–2020) | |
Prior to New Mexico State, Jans was hired by Bowling Green in March 2014—his first Division I job. He led Bowling Green to its most wins in 13 years. However, on March 21—shortly after losing to Canisius in the 2nd round of the 2015 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament, a drunken Jans was seen engaging in lewd and inappropriate behavior toward women at a bar near campus. A Bowling Green alumnus recorded Jans on his cell phone, and was so outraged by what he saw that he reported the incident to school officials.[1] Following an internal investigation, Bowling Green fired Jans for violating a morals clause in his contract.[2][3]
Jans led New Mexico State to a 27–7 record in 2021–22, including an NCAA Tournament victory. He finished with a 122–32 mark at New Mexico State, winning four regular-season and three Western Athletic Conference tournament championships. On March 20, 2022, Jans was hired as head coach at Mississippi State.[4]
Head coaching record
editJunior college
editSeason | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kirkwood Eagles (Iowa Community College Athletic Conference) (1996–1998) | |||||||||
1996–97 | Kirkwood | 25–10 | NJCAA Division II Tournament | ||||||
1997–98 | Kirkwood | 31–6 | NJCAA Division II Champion | ||||||
Kirkwood: | 56–16 (.778) | ||||||||
Independence Pirates (Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference) (1998–1999) | |||||||||
1998–99 | Independence | 22–10 | 14–4 | ||||||
Independence: | 22–10 (.688) | 14–4 (.778) | |||||||
Howard College Hawks (Western Junior College Athletic Conference) (2001–2003) | |||||||||
2001–02 | Howard College | 20–10 | |||||||
2002–03 | Howard College | 29–4 | |||||||
Howard College: | 49–14 (.778) | ||||||||
Chipola Indians (Panhandle Conference) (2003–2004) | |||||||||
2003–04 | Chipola | 32–5 | 11–1 | 1st | NJCAA Division I Tournament | ||||
Chipola: | 32–5 (.865) | 11–1 (.917) | |||||||
Total: | 159–45 (.779) | ||||||||
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
|
College
editSeason | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bowling Green Falcons (Mid-American Conference) (2014–2015) | |||||||||
2014–15 | Bowling Green | 21–12 | 11–7 | 3rd (East) | CIT Second Round | ||||
Bowling Green: | 21–12 (.636) | 11–7 (.611) | |||||||
New Mexico State Aggies (Western Athletic Conference) (2017–2022) | |||||||||
2017–18 | New Mexico State | 28–6 | 12–2 | 1st | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
2018–19 | New Mexico State | 30–5 | 15–1 | 1st | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
2019–20 | New Mexico State | 25–6 | 16–0 | 1st | No postseason held | ||||
2020–21 | New Mexico State | 12–8 | 7–6 | 3rd | |||||
2021–22 | New Mexico State | 27–7 | 14–4 | T–1st | NCAA Division I Round of 32 | ||||
New Mexico State: | 122–32 (.792) | 64–13 (.831) | |||||||
Mississippi State Bulldogs (Southeastern Conference) (2022–present) | |||||||||
2022–23 | Mississippi State | 21–13 | 8–10 | T–9th | NCAA Division I First Four | ||||
2023–24 | Mississippi State | 21–14 | 8–10 | 9th | NCAA Division I Round of 64 | ||||
Mississippi State: | 42–27 (.609) | 16–20 (.444) | |||||||
Total: | 185–71 (.723) | ||||||||
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
|
source[5]
Personal life
editJans resides in Starkville with his wife Sheri.
References
edit- ^ Wagner, John (April 3, 2015). "BGSU fires first-year basketball coach Chris Jans". The Blade.
- ^ "Men's Basketball Leadership Change Announced".
- ^ Thamel, Pete (April 2, 2015). "Video shows Bowling Green coach Chris Jans slapping woman's buttocks". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
- ^ Stephenson, Creg (March 20, 2022). "Mississippi State hires New Mexico State's Chris Jans as basketball coach". Al.com. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
- ^ "Falcon Fodder: Men's Basketball". Archived from the original on April 16, 2014. Retrieved April 15, 2014.