Aggie men's team announces 3 additions

Apr. 16—One day after New Mexico State announced a new contract for men's basketball coach Chris Jans, the Aggie program announced the addition of three new players.

University of Washington transfer Nate Pryor, John A. Logan College guard and former Missouri Tiger Mario McKinney Jr., and 6-foot-10 Mexican national Jorge Moreno are coming to NMSU, the school said Thursday. They join signees Kiran Oliver II and Ishan White.

A 6-foot-4 guard from Seattle, Pryor played in 16 of Washington's 26 games this season, his lone campaign with the Huskies. He averaged 4.1 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 17.5 minutes per game at UW after transferring from two-year North Idaho College in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, which went 59-3 overall during his time there.

"He has great size, feel and love for the game," Jans said in a statement from NMSU.

A 6-foot-2 guard from St. Louis, McKinney was rated the top prep player in Missouri in 2019. But he played only four games for Missouri as a freshman, averaging 3.3 points, 1.5 rebounds and 0.5 assists in 9.3 minutes per game. Then he flourished at John A. Logan, where he averaged 18.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. He is "an electrifying player that competes at a high level," Jans said.

Moreno has played only three years of organized basketball, NMSU said. He averaged 14.0 points, 13.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.5 blocks per game for Strength 'N Motion International in San Antonio, Texas.

Jans agreed this week to a contract extension through the 2026-27 season for the fourth-year head coach who will also be getting a bump in pay — not from the university's main-campus administration, but from privately raised funds that now make up more than half of his $584,000 annual salary. That's before any bonuses, which also were tweaked.

Jans was one of the finalists for the vacant head coaching position at rival UTEP, which ultimately hired Joe Golding away from Abilene Christian.