BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – D.J. Jeffries and Tolu Smith will join Chris Jans during the SEC Tipoff ’23 event on Wednesday afternoon at the Grand Bohemian Hotel in Mountain Brook, Alabama.

The trio will meet with various media members and media outlets from across the country which include ESPN, CBS and Sirius XM. SEC Now airing on the SEC Network will have live coverage from media days from 8 a.m. to 2 pm. CT. Coach Jans will have his media day presser streamed live courtesy of SEC Network+ at 1:25 p.m. CT.

The Bulldogs are closing in on two weeks away from opening their 2022-23 campaign and playing their first game of the Coach Jans era versus Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Nov. 7 – 6:30 PM – SEC Network+), a 2022 NCAA Tournament participant from the Southland Conference, at Humphrey Coliseum.

Fans can purchase season tickets through Mississippi State’s Athletic Ticket Office starting as low as $155 at www.HailState.com/tickets or by calling (662) 325-2600/(888) 463-2947 (GO DAWGS) for the program’s much-anticipated first season under Coach Jans.

Jans ushered in an impressive run of success over the last five seasons at New Mexico State, where he guided the Aggies to a 122-32 record fueled by three NCAA Tournament trips. His squad pulled a patented 12-5 upset over Connecticut during the 2022 Big Dance.

During the NCAA Round of 32, the Aggies held No. 4 seeded Arkansas to season lows in both points (53) and field goal percentage (27.5).

Jans owns an impressive .765 winning percentage (143-44) through his six seasons as an NCAA Division I head men’s basketball coach. The .765 clip is third nationally among active head coaches only behind Gonzaga’s Mark Few (.837) and Kansas’ Bill Self (.768).

Mississippi State’s returning group is highlighted by Smith and Jeffries along with Cameron Matthews and Shakeel Moore. The Jeffries-Matthews-Moore-Smith quartet combined to average 49.3 percent of State’s points, 48.4 percent of State’s rebounds, 43.9 of State’s assists, ­­52.8 percent of State’s steals and 46.9 percent of State’s blocks over 90 starts last season.

Mississippi State’s newcomers include transfers Dashawn Davis (Oregon State – Pac 12 Leader in assists), Jamel Horton Jr. (UAlbany – 2022 America East Defensive Player of the Year & 2022 All-America East Second Team), Will McNair Jr. (New Mexico State – 2020 and 2022 WAC Champion & NCAA Tournament), Eric Reed Jr. (Southeast Missouri – 2022 All-Ohio Valley First Team) and Tyler Stevenson (Southern Miss – 2022 All-Conference USA Honorable Mention) in addition to freshmen Kimani Hamilton (ESPN Top 100), Shawn Jones Jr., KeShawn Murphy and Martavious Russell.

Visit www.HailState.com for the latest news and information on the men’s basketball program. Fans also can follow the program on its social media outlets by searching ‘HailStateMBK’ on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.