Chris Jans

Chris Jans, born on April 12, 1969, in Fairbank, Iowa, is an American college basketball coach. He graduated from Loras College in 1991, where he also played basketball for three years. His coaching career began in 1992 as an assistant coach at Elmhurst College. He steadily progressed through various coaching roles, including assistant positions at Grand View College (1994-1996) and Idaho (1999-2001), and head coaching positions at junior colleges such as Kirkwood Community College (1996-1998), Independence Community College (1998-1999), Howard College (2001-2003), and Chipola College (2003-2004). At Kirkwood, he led the team to a NJCAA Division II National Championship in 1998, earning him the National Coach of the Year title. His junior college head coaching record stands at 159 wins and 45 losses.

Jans transitioned to NCAA Division I coaching as an assistant at Illinois State (2004-2007) before joining Wichita State in 2007, where he worked under head coach Gregg Marshall for seven seasons. During this period, Wichita State made significant postseason runs, including winning the NIT Championship in 2011 and reaching the NCAA Final Four in 2013, highlighted by a 35-0 start to the 2013-14 season. His first Division I head coaching opportunity came in 2014 at Bowling Green, where he led the team to 21 wins in his inaugural season, the most for a first-year coach in the program’s history. He then returned to Wichita State as a special assistant from 2015-2017 before being appointed head coach at New Mexico State in 2017. At New Mexico State, Jans achieved a record of 122-32, securing four regular-season WAC titles and three WAC Tournament championships. His teams recorded 28 wins in his first year (2017-18) and a program-best 30 wins in 2018-19, with a perfect 16-0 WAC record in the 2019-20 season. He was honored as the WAC Coach of the Year three times (2018, 2019, 2020).

In 2022, Jans was named the head coach of the Mississippi State men’s basketball program. In his first season (2022-23), he led Mississippi State to a 21-13 record and an NCAA Tournament appearance. He continued this success in the 2023-24 season with another 21-14 record and NCAA Tournament berth, and again in the 2024-25 season with a 21-13 record and an NCAA Tournament appearance. His career record at major schools is 206-84, reflecting a .710 winning percentage. He currently resides in Starkville with his wife, Sheri, and their two children, Nick and Maddie Gazda.