Chris Jans made official his first hire to his Mississippi State staff.

James Miller, who spent the last 4 seasons at New Mexico State working under Jans after being elevated from assistant coach to associate head coach leading into the 2019-20 season, is the first assistant named.

Before New Mexico State, Miller served as an assistant coach at Omaha (2015-16) under Derrin Hanson followed by a pair one-year stints at Arkansas State (2016-17) and North Texas (2017-18) both for Grant McCasland.

“James Miller is an elite basketball coach,” Jans said. “Our student-athletes and our program will benefit daily from his talent and his expertise. Coach Miller has earned an outstanding reputation in our profession because of his work ethic, high character and results. He impacts young men in a positive way off the court. As one of the bright young minds in college basketball, I don’t expect James to be a Bulldog for long as he will make an Athletic Director very happy in the near future.”

Miller got into coaching at Colorado State Pueblo as an assistant coach from 2005-06 to 2008-09 before he served as an intern with Arizona State out of college. He also was a student manager at Colorado State where he earned his bachelor’s degree in 2005 and received his master’s degree from Northern Colorado in 2007.