On the back of losing to Arkansas in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last weekend New Mexico State announced that it will be looking to fill a vacant head coach position. After former head coach Chris Jans accepted an offer to become the head coach at Mississippi State University.  

Jans began his tenure in the 2017-2018 where he began to carve out a stellar 122-32 overall record in five seasons. The overall record included a 63-13 record against WAC opponents, which puts him second behind Gonzaga’s Mark Few for best winning percentage in conference play in NCAA Division I.  

 His success continued by leading the Aggies to four regular season WAC Titles, to go along with three WAC Tournament championships. Jans led teams appeared in the NCAA Tournament three different times and led NMSU to its only tournament win in the last 52 years after knocking off UConn in the first round of this year’s tournament.  

The Fairbank, Iowa native was awarded the Don Haskins WAC Coach of the Year for three consecutive years from 2018-2020. To add to his hardware Jans received NABC District 6 Coach of the Year honors in 2018 and 2019.  

Jan’s new contract for Mississippi State is a four-year deal which includes a $2.4 million base pay for his first year. The deal also includes the opportunity to earn an additional $650,000 in performance-based incentives.  

Now, New Mexico State is looking to hire head coaches for both their men’s and women’s basketball programs. Many of the current players have let their voice be heard as they have vouched for associate head coach James Miller to become the Aggies next coach.