New opportunities on the way for Patrice Days in year three with Mississippi State

After two years as the Director of Recruiting for Chris Jans, Patrice Days’ role is growing.

Mississippi State has added a few assistants to this year’s staff due to a change in NCAA rules and Days has a chance to both recruit off campus and help coach on gamedays and at practice.

A former college basketball player, Days spent time coaching at New Orleans, Charlotte, Wright State, Southern Utah, Abilene Christian, East Tennessee State and Coastal Carolina. After helping build State’s roster over the last three years, he’s getting a chance to get back to his coaching roots to go along with the strong presence he brings on the recruiting side of things.

The Bulldogs have, arguably, their most talented roster since Jans arrived in Starkville and Days is a major part of that. He spoke to the talent that the team has brought in, Jans’ leadership and what it means for him to be back on the sidelines.

Question: What was it like finding out that you’ve been promoted to assistant coach?

PD: “Surprising. I was very blessed and fortunate enough to have this opportunity to work for somebody like him. Not many people get an opportunity with somebody that has won 75% of his games and won everywhere he’s been. I had no idea coming into it. At the point in time, we had our heads down recruiting and trying to find the next guy that could help us get over the hump the second week in March. It was very surprising.”

Q: How much different has the offseason been for you guys as a staff?

PD: “Like speed dating. We already had real good staff chemistry as is and we were able to work together and put our minds together. No egos, we just stayed on the same path. We wanted to figure out what we needed to do, what coach wanted, and do it to the best of our abilities.”

Q: Coach Jans is a big data guy, how much does someone like Jordan Sperber help this team?

PD: “He’s a beast. I get to share an office with him every day and he’s in there and relentless. That gives us another weapon. With the mind that coach Jans and our staff has and the body of work we’ve been able to do, having him give us another boost. Having him has definitely been good.”

Q: How much easier has it been selling State this year?

PD: “Easy, we’ve got the Dentist. I know he doesn’t like people saying that, but we’ve got him. Even on the recruiting trail, most kids nowadays know about us and are more familiar with our staff. They’ve seen us beat top 10 opponents (like) Tennessee. It helps that we have guys like DJ (Jefferies) and Tolu (Smith) make it to Summer League and I think Tolu is about to get a two-way contract.

“It helps us a lot in recruiting. They see that State and that maroon and a lot of kids get googly eyed when they see coach Jans in the gym. That helps us a lot in recruiting.”

Q: You sold it to a lot of offensive guys in the offseason. How did you sell that?

PD: “If they win and you want to be a pro… Coach has a really good tradeoff with that. If you compete, you defend, he rewards you with getting freedom. The dynamic that our team has had, we had to play a little different. Having the guys that we have now, it’s a really good tradeoff. They’ll be able to see the fruit of their labor. Most of these kids want to play fast. They want to shoot threes and score buckets. At the same time, people want to be attached to winners and that’s what the NBA is full of.”

Q: Coach Jans said he usually doesn’t like his team after 20 practices but he likes this team. Do you like this team?

PD:  “If he likes it, I love it. We’ve got a good group of guys. They get along, they share the ball. Adding a lot of offensive scoring power, kids want to have the ball in their hands. They’ve got a really high IQ and they like to play with each other. They play with passion and joy and that’s a big deal. So if he says he likes it, I love it.”

Q: When he says he doesn’t like his team most years, does he also not like his staff sometimes?

PD: “Nah he loves us. He just gives us a hard way to go sometimes.”

Q: What’s changed for you this year?

PD: “I’m actually able to get on the road and be able to touch people and see recruits instead of picking up the phone and FaceTiming and sending them recruiting material. I’m also back on the floor. I’m happy to be back on the floor and being able to project my voice.

“Last year I didn’t have the opportunity to do that which was very hard for me. What I told people is it was like a redshirt year for me and I was able to be a sponge and learn a lot from coach and the staff. You get a chance to see everything and you get to elevate a little bit.”