Mississippi State basketball hires Chris Jans of New Mexico State as coach

Less than a week after firing Ben Howland, Mississippi State basketball has hired New Mexico State's Chris Jans as coach, the school announced Sunday.

Jans led No. 12 seed New Mexico State to a first-round upset No. 5 Connecticut on Friday in the NCAA Tournament and nearly shocked No. 4 seed Arkansas in the second round Saturday.

Jans, 52, has a 122-32 record. New Mexico State won the Western Athletic conference in four of his five seasons there and made the NCAA Tournament three times.

"Throughout our thorough research, what stood out about Coach Jans was his culture of accountability, hard-working mentality, emphasis on player development, and vision for the future," Mississippi State athletics director John Cohen said in a news release. "Coach Jans is a proven leader and winner, who is considered by many to be one of the top coaches in the game. He is a tireless recruiter, brilliant Xs and Os tactician, and his overall resume speaks for itself. In 12 years as a head coach at the Division I and JUCO levels, he won 20 or more games in all but one season."

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Before taking the New Mexico State job, Jans coached for a year at Bowling Green, where he went 21-12.

Jans had a pair of assistant coaching stints at Wichita State from 2007-14 and from 2015-17. His other assistant coaching stops include Illinois State and Idaho.

The Fairbank, Iowa, native began his career at the junior college level with stops at Kirkwood Community College in Iowa, Independence Community College in Kansas, Howard College in Texas, and Chipola Junior College in Florida.

Mississippi State will be Jans' first Power Five head coaching job.

Howland, 64, was fired Thursday after spending seven seasons at Mississippi State. He finished with a 134-98 record but only made one NCAA Tournament appearance, losing in the first round to No. 12 seed Liberty in 2019.

The Bulldogs had clear goals of reaching the NCAA Tournament again this season, but the roster fell short en route to an 18-16 finish, including its 60-57 loss to Virginia in the opening round of the National Invitation Tournament on Wednesday.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Chris Janes hired by Mississippi State basketball from New Mexico St.