Ernie Kent

Ernest Kent (born January 22, 1955) is an American college basketball coach. He is the former head men's basketball coach at Washington State University. Prior to Washington State, he served as the head men's basketball coach at the University of Oregon and at Saint Mary's (CA). Kent was previously an assistant at Stanford University and also coached abroad in Saudi Arabia. Kent is a college basketball commentator with the Pac-12 Network. Kent grew up in Rockford, Illinois, one of ten children born to Josie and Willie ("WT") Kent. Kent said in a 2014 interview that as a kid he would awaken almost every morning and run to nearby Blackhawk Park hoping to be the first person to shoot a basketball and “see the dew pop off that net.” At Rockford West High School, Kent was heavily recruited by two dozen colleges -- not only for basketball, but football and track as well -- and chose the University of Oregon.

Basketball player

Kent played for the Oregon Ducks from 1973 to 1977 under head coach Dick Harter. Nicknamed "Million Moves", he was a part of the Kamikaze Kids, known for constant hustle and extremely aggressive play in their attempts to win ball games. Knee injuries ended his collegiate career.

Coaching career

Early coaching career Between 1980 and 1987, Ernie Kent spent his days in Saudi Arabia coaching basketball for the Al-Khaleej Club. He later went on to become the head coach at Saint Mary's College of California where he remained for six years.

Oregon Kent was hired in 1997 to replace Jerry Green, who was leaving for a position at the University of Tennessee, Kent was the first African American head coach to be hired in the history of the Oregon Ducks athletic department in any sport. Oregon's deepest runs in the tournament in 42 years. He also led the Ducks to the National Invitation Tournament Final Four in 1999 and 2004. In the 2002 season, Kent led the team to its first conference title since 1939 despite the Pacific-10 Conference sending a record of six teams into the NCAA tournament.

As head coach, Kent was known for his recruiting ability, bringing in a class of highly regarded recruits in 2004 such as Maarty Leunen, Bryce Taylor, Chamberlain Oguchi and Malik Hairston. He was highly criticized for failing to sign two of the highest profile recruits to come from the state of Oregon for the class of 2007, Kyle Singler and Kevin Love. The following year, he signed the #21 recruiting class. During his tenure, he had four players drafted in the first round of the NBA draft in Fred Jones, Luke Ridnour, Luke Jackson and Aaron Brooks. Kent remained the head coach, but following a second-to-last finish in the Pac-10 in the 2009–10 season, Kent was fired. His 235 wins were the most in school history, though he has since been passed by his successor, Dana Altman.

Washington State On March 31, 2014, Kent was hired to replace Ken Bone as the Men's Basketball coach at Washington State University. His tenure at Washington State was nowhere near as successful as his tenure at Oregon; in five years, the Cougars never had a winning season and never finished higher than eighth in Pac-12 play.

He was fired later on March 14, 2019, one day after losing to University of Oregon in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament.

Personal life Ernie Kent was born January 22, 1955, in Rockford, Illinois and has three adult children: Marcus, Jordan and McKenzie.

With his degree in community service and public affairs, he was also heavily involved in community service in Eugene, earning the 2004 Hope Award from the Oregon Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Kent is also active with the American Cancer Society and the Coaches Versus Cancer campaign while being the honorary chairman of the Children's Miracle Network.

Head coaching record