SEC Basketball: Ranking all 14 head coaches heading into 2023-24 season
By Caleb Hall
No. 9 Chris Jans, Mississippi State
Mississippi State hired Chris Jans last offseason and the Bulldogs were on the cusp of making the NCAA Tournament but ultimately fell short in being of the first 4 teams out in 2022-23. Jans had coached New Mexico State Aggies from 2016-22 where he the Aggies to 1st in the conference 4 of 5 years there, where he also led them to the tourney 3 of his 5 years there. Miss State then hired him last season where he led the Bulldogs to a 21-13 (8-10) record for 9th in the SEC and was one of the first four left out of the tourney.
Jans should look to improve next season with the Bulldogs and with his success at New Mexico its difficult to see a future when Jans and the Bulldogs aren’t successful. Although they weren’t a dominant basketball team by any stretch, they were competitive in the SEC and Jans was more than likely the reason why.
He adjusted to SEC basketball and go the Bulldogs wins in a power 5 conference. That’s a hard thing to do and Jans should be on the rise in the coming years. As long as he can keep himself out of scandals that got him fired in his early days of coaching basketball.