Former Chipola Basketball Coach Chris Jans tabbed as Bowling Green's new head coach.

Former Chipola Basketball Coach Chris Jans tabbed as Bowling Green's new head coach.

Wichita State associate head coach Chris Jans has accepted the head coaching job at Bowling Green, replacing the fired Louis Orr.

Jans has been Wichita State's associate head coach since 2011-12. He helped guide the Shockers to three straight NCAA appearances and to an unbeaten record and No. 2 ranking this season before a loss to Kentucky on Sunday. He spent seven years at WSU.

In practices, Jans was the most prominent voice, behind Marshall’s, and ran practices when Marshall was absent. On the bench, Jans handled defensive matchups.

“Chris has been very instrumental in our success,” commented Marshall. “There are many times when I have leaned on his knowledge and expertise. As a former head coach, he understands and has helped in some of the big decisions that come out of this office.”

Orr was fired March 11 after seven years. The Falcons went 12-20 this season.

Jans also has been an assistant at Illinois State, Idaho, Grand View (Iowa) and Elmhurst (Ill.).

He was a head coach at Kirkwood Community College, winning a junior-college national championship in 1997-98, in addition to Independence (Kansas) CC, Howard (Texas) College and Chipola College.

While at Chipola College, Jans led the Indians to an impressive 32-5 overall record in one season, its first Panhandle Conference Championship in 10 years with an 11-1 record, its first FCCAA State Championship in 16 years and a sixth-place finish at the NJCAA National Tournament.

His six-season head coaching career includes a composite record of 159-45, and he won at least 20 games in each of those six years.

The newest Falcon is a native of Fairbank, Iowa and attended Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa from 1987 to 1991.  He started in three of his four seasons at Loras and was a captain as a senior.  He also broke two NCAA Division III records in relation to shooting 3-pointers.