Mississippi State head coach Chris Jans announces staff promotions
Per MSU Athletic Communications
Mississippi State men’s basketball coach Chris Jans announced promotions for Patrice Days, Dillon Elder, Jovan Austin and Scott Padgett on Friday.
Days, Elder and Padgett have been elevated to assistant coaches, while Austin will serve as the program’s director of recruiting.
“We’ve been able to reward our staff recently for their work and for their commitment to Mississippi State basketball,” Jans said. “We have a core group returning for our third season together which is great for communication, synergy and production. Our recent additions will mesh well with our returning staff and their skill sets. I’m excited to see what this team can accomplish for the betterment of our players and our program.”
Earlier this week, Jans also announced two additions to the staff in Doug Wagemester and Jordan Sperber.
Wagemester will serve as State’s Senior Associate Athletics Director of Men’s Basketball, while Sperber comes in as State’s Senior Director of Basketball Strategy.
The quartet has been a part of Jans’ staff which has guided State back to college basketball’s biggest stage sparked by two NCAA Tournament trips and a pair of 21-win seasons. The last time the Bulldogs collected back-to-back NCAA Tournament bids was in 2007-08 and 2008-09.
Last season, State captured three victories over Associated Press Top 10 opponents for the third time in program history and for the first time since 2001-02. The Bulldogs knocked off No. 5 Tennessee, the SEC regular season champion, during the regular season and at the SEC Tournament in addition to defeating No. 8 Auburn.
In 2022-23, State rose to as high as No. 15 in the national rankings after an 11-0 start which matched the program’s second-best start to a season.
In total, the Bulldogs have registered five wins over AP Top 25 foes in the last two seasons which is the program’s highest two-year mark since 2001-02 and 2002-03.
Humphrey Coliseum was one of the nation’s most electric environments in 2023-24 featuring seven sellouts – the most on record for a season dating back to 2008-09 highlighted by four in a row.
