Chris Jans

Chris Jans (born April 12, 1969)

Current position: Head men’s basketball coach
Current team: Mississippi State Bulldogs
Current conference: Southeastern Conference (SEC)
Bowling Green record: 21-12 (.636)
New Mexico State record: 122-32 (.792)
Mississippi State record: 42-27 (.609)
Overall record^: 185-71 (.723)

Career Accomplishments:

  • NCAA National Championships:  0
  • NCAA Tournament Appearances:  5  (2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024)
  • NIT Championships:  0
  • NIT Appearances:  0
  • CIT Appearances:  1  (2015)
  • SEC Regular Season Champion:  0
  • WAC Regular Season Champion:  4  (2018, 2019, 2020, 2022)
  • SEC Tournament Champion:  0
  • WAC Tournament Champion:  3  (2018, 2019, 2022)
  • NJCAA Division II National Championships:  1  (1998)
  • ICCAC (JC, Div II) Regular Season Champion:  2  (1997, 1998)
  • Panhandle (JC, Div I) Regular Season Champion:  (2004)

Awards:

Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):

2022-present Mississippi State
2017-2022 New Mexico State
2015-2017 Wichita State (special asst)
2014-2015 Bowling Green
2007-2014 Wichita State (asst)
2004-2007 Illinois State (asst)
2003-2004 Chipola JC
2001-2003 Howard JC
1999-2001 Idaho (asst)
1998-1999 Independence CC
1996-1998 Kirkwood CC
1994-1996 Grand View (asst)
1991-1994 Elmhurst (asst)

Chris Jans Facts

  • Christopher Paul Jans
  • Born April 12, 1969
  • Hometown: Fairbanks, Iowa
  • Alma Mater: Loras College (BA, 1991)
  • Played four seasons at Division III Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa
  • Spent two seasons as the head coach at Kirkwood CC (IA), winning the NJCAA Division II National Championship in 1998
    • Also coached at Independence CC (KS), Howard College (TX) and Chipola College (FL), all members of the NJCAA
    • In between jobs, spent two years as an assistant at Idaho under head coach David Farrar
    • Has a total head coaching record of 159-45 (.779) after six seasons as NJCAA head coach
  • Was an assistant for Porter Moser for three seasons at Illinois State, then joined Gregg Marshall‘s Wichita State staff in 2007
  • After seven years at WSU, hired in 2014 as the head coach at Bowling Green
    • Won a school-record 21 games in his lone season, but was fired after being caught on video drunk and making inappropriate comments towards a woman in a bar
  • Returned to Wichita for two more seasons as a special assistant to Marshall
  • Jans was hired as the new head coach at NMSU in April 2017
  • Left NMSU in March 2022 to become the new head coach at Mississippi State
    • Won 21 games in each of his first two seasons, earning back-to-back at-large NCAA Tournament bids

Chris Jans Coaching Tree

 

^ overall record includes head coaching positions at the NCAA Division I level only