By PAUL GOTHAM
BUFFALO — Before Chris Jans had a chance to take his seat on the media room dais on Friday afternoon, KeyBank Center moderator Jon Fuller reminded the New Mexico State head coach about the need to have only authorized drinking cups on the table.
Jans politely placed his bottle of water lacking the branding of the event’s sponsor under his chair before preparing to address those gathered.
A simple reminder of how far the fifth-year coach has come from his days at Kirkwood Community College when amenities were few and responsibilities many.
On Saturday night, Jans and his No. 12 seed Aggies will take the court on the sport’s greatest stage with his austere roots as a head coach not far away in his memory.
“I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” Jans said of his six years in the junior college ranks. “I cut my teeth at a young age. I got my first head coaching job at 26. At this point at 52, I still don’t know what I’m doing, but at 26, I just look back going, I mean, what was I doing? About every five years, I look back and say you don’t know anything, dude. I guess that’s good from a growth standpoint.”
The Fairbank, Iowa native took Kirkwood CC to the 1997 NJCAA DII tournament in his first year as head coach. The following season he led the Eagles to a national championship.
Jans made the move to Division I Independence CC for one year before serving as an assistant at NCAA Division I University of Idaho for two season. He returned to the NJCAA for two campaigns with Howard College and another at Chipola College.
“It’s made me appreciate what I’m doing now, the amenities of Division I basketball, the exposure, the platform. It’s so meaningful. Those six years at four different spots in junior college helped shape me as a coach, and you do it all at that level. You just do it all.”
The current New Mexico State basketball staff consists of eight including Jans. That’s a far cry from his days in the 90s and early 2000s.
“Now I got too many guys on my staff, and I swear I walk through the hallway, and I’ll chirp at someone like what are they doing all day? I don’t even know what they’re doing all day. I know they’re making my job a lot easier, but it’s just a different grind. It’s just a different grind. We weren’t riding on the buses. We’re driving the buses.”
And the trips didn’t consist of a few exits along the thruway.
“I remember playing at Western Nebraska when I was at Howard Junior College,” Jans recalled. “We got done playing on a Saturday night, and your budgets are razor thin. We couldn’t stay the second night. Me and the other coach switched driving, and we drove, like, 23 hours and got back the next day. As I think back, I’m like, that was dangerous. We coached the game at night and then we’re driving back in these vans with all our kids on them. That’s just how it was back when you were a junior college coach 20 some years ago.”
New Mexico State will face No. 4 Arkansas Saturday night in the West Region’s second round.
New Mexico State is led by junior guard Teddy Allen who scored 37 points in the Aggies’ 70-63 victory over No. 5 UConn on Thursday. The victory was the program’s first in the NCAA Tournament since 1993.
Jabari Rice averages 12.2 points per game for the Aggies while Johnny McCants scores 8.5 and grabs 5.3 rebounds. Will McNair averages 6.7 points.
Arkansas (27-8) opened the tournament with a 75-71 win over No. 13 Vermont. The Razorbacks’ Stanley Umude led all scorers with 21 points. Jaylin Williams finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds in the win while JD Notae accounted for 17 points despite first-half foul trouble.
“I think Williams is maybe the heart and soul from where I look at it from both ends of the floor,” Jans noted. “He is like the catcher on a baseball team. He just is running the show defensively. Obviously, there’s much to be talked about how he takes charges and how he is anticipating. He is so good at it.”
An 8:40 p.m. tipoff is scheduled.
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