Chris Jans explains how returners are building off of last season's March Madness appearance

Chris Jans led the Mississippi State Bulldogs to their first NCAA tournament appearance since the program’s 2018-2019 season under former head coach Ben Howland. Jans achieved this in just his first year as head coach of the program. And with Mississippi State achieving that level of success in his first year, the Bulldogs are bound to want to push even further in the upcoming season.

During a recent interview, Jans explained how everyone returning from last season’s March Madness appearance is looking to build off of that run in the 2023-2024 campaign.

“I mean, I think they’re excited, slash relieved,” said Jans. “For all of us, when we are a part of college basketball, that’s always a goal — to be a part of March Madness, to experience March Madness. And I said it many times since the season ended; I felt good that we were able to get that done for these guys that have never experienced it. We had one guy in our program, as a player, that hadn’t played in March Madness prior to last season. So, for them to have those memories and to be able to put that bullet point on their resume if you will, makes all of us feel really good.”

Jans’ success in his first season was unexpected. Mississippi State started off the year unranked, but he was able to get them ranked as high as No. 15 in the AP rankings. Unfortunately, Mississippi State struggled towards the end of their season in conference play, dropping them out of the top 25. But they were still able to make the Men’s NCAA tournament. They finished the year 21-13 and 8-10 in SEC conference play.

“Certainly, you know we didn’t stay as long as we wanted. We left some meat on the plate if you will. I think they’re motivated. I think they know now what it takes and what it could feel like if you were able to not only get in but advance. And we’re a long way away from talking about anything like that. I mean, we haven’t got our team on the floor. I have no idea what that’s gonna feel like. But I do believe that the returnees are pretty excited about what happened and are motivated going forward.”

Mississippi State’s end to their season was a heartbreaker. The Bulldogs lost to Pittsburgh in the First-Four portion of the NCAA tournament 60-59. But Jans and his Mississippi State squad are hungry to bounce back from a tough end to last season. And with the returning talent on the roster, the Bulldogs could find themselves pushing deeper into March Madness in 2024.