New Mexico State Director of Athletics Mario Moccia announced on Wednesday a one-year contract extension for head men’s basketball coach Chris Jans. This announcement keeps the two-time Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year through the 2022-23 season in addition to other provisions included in the extension.
Following the signing, head coach Chris Jans said, “We appreciate the confidence New Mexico State University and particularly Mario Moccia has shown our staff. The Las Cruces community and Aggies fans have been welcoming and generous with their support of this storied program.”
The deal comes on the heels of Jans and company winning a program record 30 games, surpassing the previous record of 28 – which he matched in his first year at the helm. A banner year for the Aggies also saw Jans voted on by his peers as the 2019 Don Haskins Coach of the Year after going 15-1 in league play with 10 new players and only one starter returning.. He also led the Aggies to their 22nd NCAA Tournament appearance, earning the 12th-seed for the second-straight year.
“Retaining Coach Jans was one of our top priorities after last year’s historic 30-5 men’s basketball season,” said Director of Athletics Mario Moccia. “In Coach Jans’ tenure, expectations have been significantly exceeded. In his two years our 58-11 record is the third-best winning percentage in the nation behind Virginia and Gonzaga and his career winning percentage as a head coach is fourth in the nation behind Mark Few, Roy Williams and John Calipari. More importantly his men’s basketball team recorded a perfect 1.000 APR score in 2018-19 for the first time in program history and every player in his tenure, but one (who is 9 hours from graduating), has either gone to the NBA or graduated. Amazingly, one-hundred percent of the funds used to retain Chris were generated privately and through some creative concepts, as no operational money from our existing budget was used.”
The regular-season saw Jans and the Aggies win their fourth regular-season title in five years. Jans also became the only head coach in program history to sweep both rivals back-to-back years in his first two seasons at the helm.
https://nmstatesports.com/news/2019/10/16/mens-basketball-jans-inks-extension-through-2023.aspx
