October 29, 2026 | Men's Basketball
STARKVILLE - Mississippi State head coach Chris Jans met with the media leading into Monday's season opener against Tennessee Tech..ย ย
2026-27 Mississippi State Men's Basketball Quotes
Coach Jans Media Session โ October 29, 2026
Transcript Powered by State 1878
Q: What have you evaluated from the team leading into the season?
CJ: "We learned a ton. Just got great video, great tape for our individual players when we break it down to them individually. There's certainly a ton of schematic issues that came up during the game, and it told us as a coaching staff what we need to work on more. Maybe, we thought we were pretty decent in this area and the film said otherwise, or maybe an area that we were better at than we thought."
ย
"We're certainly getting a feel for how they react under the lights. We had some guys that played better, and some guys that didn't play as well individually. There are just learning experiences, like we talked about the last time I was with you guys, and that's truly how I approached them. We're really trying to make the most of those experiences and learn and grow from them and be better when these games come around."
ย
Q: What are the takeaways from the scrimmage against Memphis?
CJ: "Our second half locker room, how we surged or lack of surge, if you will. Out of halftime was disappointing. That probably stuck out like a sore thumb to anyone that watched it or to myself. Everyone knows that's how I approach those games and probably would have called a timeout or two if it [had] been a real game, but I wanted to see if they could figure it out. Obviously, they didn't. We kind of put ourselves in a hole that way in terms of the scoreboard. But, for me, it was listening in a huddle and seeing how they reacted and how much they needed some direction that way. We're trying to use it to our advantage, but we've got to give some individual guys to. I feel like a broken record sometimes when I say this but it's the truth, of getting their practice onto the game floor."
ย
"We have too many guys that participated in practice at a much higher level than they did under the lights in that particular game, and that's not what you want. You want them to supersede their efforts and their productivity when the lights are on. It's not a two-hour practice. They're only playing 20, 25, 15 [minutes], whatever it is. Minutes that they get and to really empty their tank every time they're on the floor that way individually. That's something that we really lean into going into Monday is that you've got to have that mentality. Don't conserve, don't save, leave everything on the floor every time you get an opportunity to be out there and that'll get you more minutes."
ย
Q: Talk about the accolades that Josh Hubbard has been awarded this preseason.
CJ: "It's a heck of a tip of the cap to Josh individually. In those types of preseason teams [from the SEC], you can't vote for your own players. So, it's completely out of my hands on who these other coaches are voting for, and certainly that's the way it should be. It's just the tip of the cap to what he's done. Obviously, we don't want to be paper champions. Josh would be the first to tell you, but it's nice I'm sure to be acknowledged for the work that he's put in and what he's done on the floor thus far. Just knowing Josh the way I do, it's not going to make him relax at all or feel like he's at some sort of rival level. It'll just continue to motivate him to work harder."
ย
Q: What have you seen from Josh in terms of leadership?
CJ: "He's been awesome that way. Better than he's ever been in the young season that we're about to get underway. It was really good in the game against Memphis. The score didn't indicate that, but he was. It's going to be valuable for us going forward. I think because he's been off a little bit with his injury and kind of in and out of practice and just not in rhythm with his game. That's not been ideal for him or for us. You'd rather have it now than later, but it definitely hasn't helped him doing and saying the things that he would like to heading into the game. But hopefully we can get back and get past that very soon, and he can get back into his rhythm which will help us."
ย
Q: How do you prepare for opponents early in the season when there's not a lot of film out there?
CJ: "Good question. It's different. It's different than when you have three or four games under everyone's belt. With this new format of additional exhibition games and a lot of them are being streamed, if I'm being honest. Back in the day when you played one of these closed-door scrimmages, and the only people that were taping it were their staff and your staff, you'd have these spit in your hand, handshake agreements, draw blood. We're not sharing these videos, man. We're not doing that, okay? We're going to keep ourselves a secret. I remember that from 10, 15, 20 years ago. That's the way it was. You still worked hard behind the scenes to try to get someone to break the agreement and get you the tape. Sometimes, you make agreements and even talk about what happened in the game to a future opponent. I was, as you can imagine, pretty big into that. [I was] Trying to one, protect, but two, glean information from these staffs at the same time they were sworn to secrecy. I am to the point now where there's so many people on our staff, and I know human nature and I know how it just is. I was like them at one point in my life. You want to develop relationships with people, and you have relationships with people. You never know who's going to help you in this business."
ย
"So, my brain is almost to the point where anything that we run in one of these closed doors or public exhibition games, is probably going to find its way to these future early opponents. That's just the way it is. It's like everything else in our landscape. It's changing and evolving. So, that's my mentality. That's how I approach these early season games. Because of that, we've found our way to glean some information about some of these early opponents. It's not as difficult, but it's still different. We're actually in the process of doing that thing right now."
Q: How do you plan to start games quicker last year? I remember last season's opener when your team was down early in the second half.
CJ: "It's not something that we'll talk about. This team has two players [Josh Hubbard and King Grace] that played on that team. So, those types of experiences will not be drawn upon. We're going to certainly focus on what we need to do, like you mentioned. Get off to a good start, that always helps no matter what game it is if it's the first game or the 32nd game. You'd like to get off to a good start and build that confidence. If you're at home, get the crowd behind you, or if you're on the road you kind of silence them. But it doesn't always work that way. We'll be talking, planning about that all day on Monday."
2026-27 Mississippi State Men's Basketball Quotes
Coach Jans Media Session โ October 29, 2026
Transcript Powered by State 1878
Q: What have you evaluated from the team leading into the season?
CJ: "We learned a ton. Just got great video, great tape for our individual players when we break it down to them individually. There's certainly a ton of schematic issues that came up during the game, and it told us as a coaching staff what we need to work on more. Maybe, we thought we were pretty decent in this area and the film said otherwise, or maybe an area that we were better at than we thought."
ย
"We're certainly getting a feel for how they react under the lights. We had some guys that played better, and some guys that didn't play as well individually. There are just learning experiences, like we talked about the last time I was with you guys, and that's truly how I approached them. We're really trying to make the most of those experiences and learn and grow from them and be better when these games come around."
ย
Q: What are the takeaways from the scrimmage against Memphis?
CJ: "Our second half locker room, how we surged or lack of surge, if you will. Out of halftime was disappointing. That probably stuck out like a sore thumb to anyone that watched it or to myself. Everyone knows that's how I approach those games and probably would have called a timeout or two if it [had] been a real game, but I wanted to see if they could figure it out. Obviously, they didn't. We kind of put ourselves in a hole that way in terms of the scoreboard. But, for me, it was listening in a huddle and seeing how they reacted and how much they needed some direction that way. We're trying to use it to our advantage, but we've got to give some individual guys to. I feel like a broken record sometimes when I say this but it's the truth, of getting their practice onto the game floor."
ย
"We have too many guys that participated in practice at a much higher level than they did under the lights in that particular game, and that's not what you want. You want them to supersede their efforts and their productivity when the lights are on. It's not a two-hour practice. They're only playing 20, 25, 15 [minutes], whatever it is. Minutes that they get and to really empty their tank every time they're on the floor that way individually. That's something that we really lean into going into Monday is that you've got to have that mentality. Don't conserve, don't save, leave everything on the floor every time you get an opportunity to be out there and that'll get you more minutes."
ย
Q: Talk about the accolades that Josh Hubbard has been awarded this preseason.
CJ: "It's a heck of a tip of the cap to Josh individually. In those types of preseason teams [from the SEC], you can't vote for your own players. So, it's completely out of my hands on who these other coaches are voting for, and certainly that's the way it should be. It's just the tip of the cap to what he's done. Obviously, we don't want to be paper champions. Josh would be the first to tell you, but it's nice I'm sure to be acknowledged for the work that he's put in and what he's done on the floor thus far. Just knowing Josh the way I do, it's not going to make him relax at all or feel like he's at some sort of rival level. It'll just continue to motivate him to work harder."
ย
Q: What have you seen from Josh in terms of leadership?
CJ: "He's been awesome that way. Better than he's ever been in the young season that we're about to get underway. It was really good in the game against Memphis. The score didn't indicate that, but he was. It's going to be valuable for us going forward. I think because he's been off a little bit with his injury and kind of in and out of practice and just not in rhythm with his game. That's not been ideal for him or for us. You'd rather have it now than later, but it definitely hasn't helped him doing and saying the things that he would like to heading into the game. But hopefully we can get back and get past that very soon, and he can get back into his rhythm which will help us."
ย
Q: How do you prepare for opponents early in the season when there's not a lot of film out there?
CJ: "Good question. It's different. It's different than when you have three or four games under everyone's belt. With this new format of additional exhibition games and a lot of them are being streamed, if I'm being honest. Back in the day when you played one of these closed-door scrimmages, and the only people that were taping it were their staff and your staff, you'd have these spit in your hand, handshake agreements, draw blood. We're not sharing these videos, man. We're not doing that, okay? We're going to keep ourselves a secret. I remember that from 10, 15, 20 years ago. That's the way it was. You still worked hard behind the scenes to try to get someone to break the agreement and get you the tape. Sometimes, you make agreements and even talk about what happened in the game to a future opponent. I was, as you can imagine, pretty big into that. [I was] Trying to one, protect, but two, glean information from these staffs at the same time they were sworn to secrecy. I am to the point now where there's so many people on our staff, and I know human nature and I know how it just is. I was like them at one point in my life. You want to develop relationships with people, and you have relationships with people. You never know who's going to help you in this business."
ย
"So, my brain is almost to the point where anything that we run in one of these closed doors or public exhibition games, is probably going to find its way to these future early opponents. That's just the way it is. It's like everything else in our landscape. It's changing and evolving. So, that's my mentality. That's how I approach these early season games. Because of that, we've found our way to glean some information about some of these early opponents. It's not as difficult, but it's still different. We're actually in the process of doing that thing right now."
Q: How do you plan to start games quicker last year? I remember last season's opener when your team was down early in the second half.
CJ: "It's not something that we'll talk about. This team has two players [Josh Hubbard and King Grace] that played on that team. So, those types of experiences will not be drawn upon. We're going to certainly focus on what we need to do, like you mentioned. Get off to a good start, that always helps no matter what game it is if it's the first game or the 32nd game. You'd like to get off to a good start and build that confidence. If you're at home, get the crowd behind you, or if you're on the road you kind of silence them. But it doesn't always work that way. We'll be talking, planning about that all day on Monday."
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