Chris Jans explains process of bringing KeShawn Murphy back out of the transfer portal

For all the player movement we see today in the transfer portal, returns aren’t always so common. Mississippi State had one, though, with KeShawn Murphy changing his mind about leaving Starkville this offseason.

Chris Jans opened up about Murphy’s decision-making process and how the Bulldogs handle transfer choices during a media session. He said that it’s something that their program has adjusted to with them taking the job during the portal era. They’ve gotten very familiar with it all, which is why they were able to know how they wanted to handle things with Murphy.

“Yeah, fortunately, I think, for all of us, we’ve been through enough recruiting cycles now to, in your personal opinion, how you best handle those types of situations,” said Jans. “From the time I got here to inheriting who we did, who we had? Some guys were on the fence of either coming back because they were in the portal or going into the portal.”

“With Murph, I felt like we had an understanding of how we should handle it,” Jans said.

However, when it comes to transfers leaving, Jans said that he won’t be making a full-on recruitment out of them.

No message is going to be worth more than the span of time that you’ve already spent on the team where you know what everything is. That’s why Jans is open to whatever decision may come of it in the end since he knows who Mississippi State already is.

“In my opinion, we just try to give them time and space. It’s not a sales pitch,” said Jans. “You know, I always feel like, at that point, if you’ve had a young man in your program for a year, you’re recruiting him, and you’re selling him like a new recruit? Then, if I was a current player, I’d be looking at me like, ‘What are you talking about? I just had nine, 10 months around you every day of what it’s going to be like’. So I tell them that, exactly what I’m telling you. I’m not going to recruit you again.”

“You know who we are. We want you back. But I get it. You know, if you feel like you need to look around, do some comparing and some contrasting? I understand. We’re going to give you the time and space. We love having you here. But, at the same time, you know, the rules are the rules and the options are the options,” Jans continued. “That approach has served us well thus far.”

Murphy had just completed his third season at Mississippi State. In his 40 games with the Bulldogs, he had averaged four points and 2.4 rebounds in just under a dozen minutes per game.

After this last season as a redshirt sophomore, Murphy entered the portal on April 10th. Still, he wasn’t gone long with him removing his name from it by April 20th.

“My decision to enter the portal was more about trying to find a better fit for me. It was an individual thing I had to battle,” said Murphy recently in an interview with Paul Jones of Maroon and White. “My decision on coming back was a home thing. I missed the fans and I couldn’t let them go. This is my home and this is where I belong. I wasn’t gonna let that go. I can’t be selfish and I made the decision to stay here.”

More often than not, players don’t backtrack to their former teams during transfers, especially since some don’t always allow it after entry. Even so, Murphy was able to make his return and Jans is all the more glad for it.

“I know it was an exciting day when he verbally told me that he was taking his name out of the portal and he was going to be a dog,” said Jans. “I’m very happy that he made that decision.”