10-22-2005, 11:38 AM
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Head Coach
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Join Date: Apr 2004
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another jent article
http://www.dispatch.com/cavs/cavs.ph...022-E1-01.html
Quote:
Jent takes timeout from pros to hit books
Saturday, October 22, 2005
Bob Baptist
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
 SHARI LEWIS | DISPATCH Chris Jent, who served as interim coach of the Orlando Magic for 18 games last season, worked as a volunteer manager with the Ohio State men’s basketball team during off-season workouts.  SHARI LEWIS | DISPATCH Chris Jent was once part of a Big Ten championship team at Ohio State, but today he blends in on campus while working to get his degree.
He’s almost 6 feet 7, his listed height back in the day. Yet Chris Jent said none of his fellow students at Ohio State has yet asked him if he plays basketball.
If they did, he’d tell them yes — in 35-and-older leagues.
"Nobody knows who the heck I am. I’m just another student trying to get it done," Jent said.
"If their parents were in (class), they’d probably remember. But (the kids) don’t. They were probably, what, 5 years old when I was playing ball here?"
Thirteen years after helping Ohio State win a Big Ten championship and get one step from the Final Four, Jent has returned to the school to earn the year’s worth of credits he needs for a degree in mass communication. He hopes it pays off in a job coaching basketball in college or the NBA.
Jent, 35, was an NBA assistant with the Philadelphia 76 ers (under his former OSU coach, Randy Ayers) and Orlando the past two seasons and was Magic’s interim head coach for the last 18 games last season. His lack of experience was a factor in him not being retained.
After also failing to land a job as an assistant this season, he decided that after 10 years playing in the NBA, CBA, Australia, Italy and Greece, and a couple more coaching in the pros, it was time he finished work on his degree, which he needs if he wants to coach in college.
"I’m going to try to do what I can to stay in Columbus," Jent said. "I really want to coach, and there’s coaching opportunities in a lot of different places, but I’m just tired of moving around. My son (Jimmy) is 9 and he’s lived in six different European cities and five different U.S. cities. It’s not great for stability. It’d be nice to stay here."
Ohio State coach Thad Matta has no openings on his staff, but that hasn’t stopped Jent from starting to pay his dues. Though NCAA rules prevent him from coaching OSU players, he worked as a manager with them during voluntary off-season workouts, doing what NCAA rules allow. He plans to continue in the same capacity now that practice has begun.
"I can’t be another coach, but I can give them a realistic view of where they are as players and where they are as a team," Jent said. "Maybe I can say some things that coaches can’t say as far as attitude goes and approach to the game. I feel I have a very good idea of what it takes to win. If I could just communicate that to them, then I’m useful."
Matta and Jent exchanged letters a year ago when Matta invited former players to a party at his home after he was hired as OSU coach.
"I thanked him for the invite and told him how much it meant to the former players that he was reaching out to them," Jent said. "All the guys I played with were really excited about being reincorporated into the program."
Matta consulted Jent last spring when Matta and OSU women’s coach Jim Foster searched for a new strength and conditioning coach for their programs. Jent had been hired in that role with the 76 ers, but was not qualified for the job at the college level.
"He told me he wanted to get his degree, and I knew Ohio State has that program for explayers to come back and work on their degree," Matta said. "He was going to register for classes at Connecticut (where Jent lived). I said, ‘Hey, come on back to Ohio State.’ "
Matta said Jent is "absolutely" someone he would consider someday for an opening on his staff.
"He’s a phenomenal guy," Matta said. "A great personality, very sharp, sincere — and he loves Ohio State."
That’s at least a year away, though. In the meantime, Jent has plenty to keep him busy.
"Right now," he said, "I’m just trying to graduate."
bbaptist@dispatch.com
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