NMSU basketball head coach Chris Jans agrees to restructured deal

New Mexico State has done all it can to keep men’s basketball coach Chris Jans, and those efforts have paid off in a big way.

Jans agreed to a restructured deal Thursday designed to keep him in Las Cruces through the 2021-22 season.

According to NMSU Athletic Director Mario Moccia, private donations played a role in the school’s ability to offer a revised deal to Jans.

“Being fiscally responsible is a must at NM State Athletics, and 100-percent of the funds towards the new contract came from private donors and funds made available through our recent debt extension,” Moccia said.

Terms of the new deal including base pay were not released Thursday.

Jans made $250,000 in base salary last season under his original contract. That previous contract also granted bonuses for WAC titles, wins over rivals such as New Mexico and UTEP, and other accomplishments.

Jans made it clear that he feels at home at NMSU Thursday.

“We appreciate the support that we have continued to receive from the community, especially from Mario Moccia, the University administration, as well as the Board of Regents. Aggie basketball is special, and we are looking forward to building on last year’s success,” he said.

Jans led NMSU to the WAC regular season title and then followed that up with a WAC Tournament championship in his first year with the Aggies. NMSU received a 12-seed in the NCAA Tournament for their efforts, but fell to Clemson in their tournament opener.

NMSU’s previous coach, Paul Weir, left to take the UNM job after just one season.

Prior to Weir, Marvin Menzies led the Aggies from 2007-2016 before departing for UNLV.