Chris Jans 'super proud' of Mississippi State's season

After a hot start in their non-conference schedule followed by a rough start to their conference schedule, Mississippi State now knocks on the door of the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs are one of eight teams that will compete in the First Four games on Tuesday, with each winner advancing to the big dance. It was Mississippi State head coach Chris Jans’ first year on the job, and he was recently asked what his mindset was like when pushing a team this season that wasn’t as familiar with him.

“Yeah, I mean, I talked about it locally when we were going through it, and then when we got to the other side of how impressed I was during that time with their mental approach,” Jans said. “That’s the time when you got a new coach, in most cases doesn’t matter if he’s new or not, you start questioning everything. It’s just human nature for the players to question themselves, the players to question each other. The players can certainly question a new coach and lose belief.”

The Bulldogs’ 11-0 start to the season likely would not have anyone questioning the methods of a new head coach, but the 1-8 stretch that directly followed the win streak may do the trick for most teams.

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“I didn’t sense any of that when we were losing those games. We kept talking about staying the course, we’ll reap the dividends later, and they did,” Jans said. “Coaching for 31 years, you have a lot of moments and stretches where you’re really proud of your team. But that’s as proud as I can remember being for a group of guys that stuck with the process.”

It’s clear that the Bulldogs trusted the process, knocking off No. 11 TCU in an upset fashion in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge and never looking back. Mississippi State went 8-3 to finish out the regular season, climbing out of the bottom of the SEC standings to the middle of the pack.

“That phrase is thrown around a lot. But when you’re 1-7 in the SEC, to climb your way out of that, put yourself in position that we are in now, it’s pretty impressive for these young men. Says a lot about who they are, a lot about who they’re going to be when they’re done playing college basketball. I’m super proud of ’em,” Jans concluded.

Mississippi State’s hard work and relentless attitude all culminate on Tuesday night, as they take on Pittsburgh at 9:10 p.m ET for the official No. 11 seed of the NCAA Tournament and a first round matchup versus No. 6 Iowa State.