Mississippi State basketball: Chris Jans offers SEC Media Days update on Tolu Smith injury

During his opportunity to speak at SEC Media Days, Mississippi State basketball coach Chris Jans was asked about Tolu Smith’s injury.

Heading into his second season leading the Mississippi State men’s basketball program, Chris Jans is facing a tough task of having to navigate some injuries and depth issues early on in the season. And that includes the Bulldogs being without Tolu Smith, their star forward, for an extended period of time.

It’s a pretty big topic surrounding this particular Mississippi State basketball season. And it’s not shocking that Jans was asked about the storyline during SEC Media Days.

Thankfully, Jans was open and willing to talk about it. And he provided a pretty interesting update for Mississippi State Bulldogs basketball fans.

Mississippi State basketball: Chris Jans provides timeline and update on injured star Tolu Smith

When it came to talking about a timeline, it sounds like the initial timeline for Smith’s return to playing for the Bulldogs has been set for early on in Southeastern Conference play.

“In terms of a timeline, what they’ve told me originally, and it hasn’t changed, was mid January. Obviously as they give you updates and do scans, they can tell how it’s healing, et cetera,” Jans stated, according to ASAP Sports’ transcript of SEC Media Days.

Of course, Jans is optimistic that the Bulldogs won’t be without their star forward for too long during SEC play.

“Hopefully, keeping our fingers crossed, that would change going forward, but that’s all I know for now,” Jans explained.

But of course, the Bulldogs are fully supporting their star as he recovers.

“First and foremost we’re just trying to be there for him. It’s a lot to handle with the kind of expectations that were placed upon him, the type of season that he wanted to have,” Jans said.

Something that has gotten lost for some in the unfortunate timing of the injury is that there’s a young man whose career has been impacted by a painful injury. And so, the Bulldogs providing him plenty of support along the way is good to see (and also completely expected).

After all, Jans has a pretty high view of Smith, just as Mississippi State men’s basketball fans do.

“We were excited that he made the decision to come back and finish his career as a Bulldog. It meant the world to our staff and our fan base, certainly his teammates as well,” Jans said.