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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 11, 1997)
New Coach: Kent to recruit soon ■ Continued from Page 11 Kent didn’t delay with the pep talk ei ther, pumping the team up for next year’s season just moments after he had gotten the chance to meet the members in person. “We talked about next year,” Kent said. “I don’t think that people expect them to be very good next year and that’s not where I’m at. I’m about just working and seeing where we can get and developing people and getting the most out of their po tential.” “He fired us up a lot, just what he was talking about, his philosophies,” junior Henry Madden said. "Every aspect of coach Kent I love so far.” The younger players are also excited to have somebody new at the helm. Tryouts now begin all over again and they have a chance to prove to the new coach that they have the skills to earn significant playing time. “I think that this will be a chance for us younger people to prove that we can actu ally play at this level and perform, do the job and produce. I think that next year is going to be a chance for us to do that,” Brown said. “With all of the seniors leaving there’s a lot of opportunities to play and I think any of the returning players would be foolish not to be excited,” McShane said. Kent also dispelled any thoughts that he might just be another Jerry Green, coming in, rebuilding the program and then mov ing on. Kent reassured the players that this was where he wanted to be for a long time. “He told us that this isn’t going to be just another stepping stone and that he wants to stay here as long as the University will keep him,” Brown said. “He’s not looking past this and he thinks that some other coaches in the past have done that.” The jump that Kent has gotten on his job, getting acquainted with his players so soon, has made a drastic impact on a team that was counting on Turgeon getting the position a week ago. “He has potential to take the team up and beyond its boundaries,” Madden said. “You can’t judge a book by its cover, but coach Kent seems like a very nice guy, he’ll look out for our well being, and hope fully he’ll be able to help us out on the court.” As for Kent, he is fast on the duties that are calling at his new position now. “I need to get out of town sometime to morrow,” Kent said. “I don’t know when I’m leaving, but I want to get out of town and recruit.” Oregon women host Huskies, men travel to Fresno State ■ TENNIS: Oregon women attempt to rebound from a loss at San Diego By Ben Kwasney and Alex Pond Sports Reporters The Oregon women’s tennis team will fin ish its home season against Washington on Friday, while the men will be on the road against Fresno State this weekend. On the women’s side, Oregon head coach Jack Griffin expects a closely contested match against the usually powerful Huskies. Washington (8-11) is No. 53 in the nation to the Ducks No. 51 ranking. Eighteen of the last 23 Pac-10 team titles have been won by Washington. “This is our opportunity. I think we’re an equal team,” Griffin said. “It should be a very tight match.” If the weather is dry, the Ducks (7-8 over all, 2-5 Pacific-10 Conference) will play the 2 p.m. match at the 15th street courts. The Ducks are hoping for a good crowd to counter the Husky fan following. “Hopefully we’ll get some nice weather and we’ll get a lot of people out watching too,” said Allison Sosnow. “We’ve played against some teams that are very, very loud, and if we focus it shouldn’t be a problem. ” After three straight wins, Oregon is coming off a 7-2 loss last week against No. 38 San Diego. Washington has dropped six straight matches.The Ducks are led by the doubles tan dem of Sosnow and Shanelle Kaneshiro, which is ranked 34th with a 7-6 overall record. Holding the No. 1 singles spot for Oregon i I TENNIS is Alma Wygonowska with an overall record of 5 12. Kaneshiro, who plays mostly as the No. 5 singles spot, has a record of 16-11 to lead the team in wins. In case of rain, the teams will olav at Eueene Swim and Tennis Club at 5 p.m. On the men’s side, the Ducks (5-15 over all) will travel to Fresno State for a match Sunday afternoon. The match with the No. 32 Bulldogs will be the Ducks’ third straight against a ranked opponent. "Fresno State is a national power,” head coach Chris Russell said. “They’ve been as high as the top 10 in the country.” Notes: Kent may have room for UO assistants ■ Continued from Page 11 scenes, keeping us profession al and heading in the right di rection,” Kent said. Hudson was St. Mary’s re stricted-earning-coach last sea son. Prior to St. Mary’s, he spent two seasons at Solano Community College in Califor nia. “He’s our computer whiz, he’s our academic guy, and the one that worked hand-in-hand with me,” Kent said. Tad Boyle and Daren Kalish, two assistants under former Oregon coach Jerry Green, may have an opportunity to join Kent’s staff, depending on Gra ham’s status at St. Mary’s, Kent said. The possibility of adding an other “Kamikaze Kid” to the coaching staff has been dis cussed. Greg Ballard, who played at Oregon from 1973-77 before joining the NBA, has talked to Kent about accepting a position. “I threw the offer out there and told him I would get back to him. He’s certainly giving it a hard thought process,” Kent said. “Obviously he would be a great person to get back into our program.” “If it doesn’t happen, there are several people who would fit the bill for what I’m looking for, possibly including current members of this staff.” The next task for the staff will be to get started on a re cruiting trip. “We’re in a scramble re cruiting situation. We’re thrown in so late,” Kent said. “We’ve been involved with some people, in anticipation of this, who we shouldn’t have been in contact with at St. Mary’s, because they are a Pac-10 caliber of player.” Kent insists Mac Court won’t hurt his recruiting ef forts, and he said there are other things to sell besides the facility. “It may be the last thing sold in the recruiting process when we sell it, because there’s so much more to sell that goes beyond Mac Court in my opinion,” he said. “You have great hype here and you have excellent things as far as resources in this state and institution to sell.” Kent: Coach led Gaels to first NCAA Tournament in eight years this past season ■ Continued from Page 11 heart that someday I’d be back here.” Kent said that he had made it a goal of his to some day be the coach of the Ducks. “For the last 14 years I have worked extremely hard to get myself back into this position, because I flat out love the University of Oregon,” he said. While Kent is now at “home” as Oregon’s basket ball coach, he has compiled quite a rt;sum6 in the 20 years since he played for the Ducks. It all started in 1977 when Kent began his coach ing career at Oregon as the freshman coach under Harter. He assisted at Oregon again in 1979-80 under Jim Haney. In between, he coached O’Hara Catholic School for one season. From 1980 through 1987, Kent took his abilities overseas when he and his family lived in Saudi Ara bia. Kent coached the al-Khaleej Club in Sayhat for three years, helping the team advance to the playoffs each year. He also worked for the Arabian American Oil Company in Dhahran, coordinating recreation and athletics for a 200-member, multi-national work force. “Saudi Arabia was a heck of a way to get side tracked to get back here,” Kent said. “I could never forget sitting in that 130-degree heat and thinking, ‘Yeah this is great money and everything, but this isn’t where I was meant to be or where I want to be.’ “ After his stint in Saudi Arabia, Kent joined Boyd Grant’s staff at Colorado State from 1987 to 1989. During his time there, the Rams advanced to the Na tional Invitational Tournament semifinals in 1988 and made the 1989 NCAA Tournament after winning the Western Athletic Conference championship. Kent then moved up a level, joining Mike Mont gomery’s staff at Stanford from 1989 to 1991. He helped guide the Cardinal to the NIT both years, in cluding the championship in 1991. In 1991, Kent received his first head coaching job when he was named to lead St. Mary’s College in Moraga, Calif. In six years as head man of the Gaels, Kent com piled a 90-81 record, including a 23-8 mark this past season and a berth in the NCAA Tournament, where they lost 68-46 in the first round to Wake For est. St. Mary’s won the West Coast Conference tour nament and was co-champion of the WCC regular season in 1996-97. Thursday, the journey to fulfill his dream ended when he was named the first African American head coach in Oregon history. Athletic Director Bill Moos said that the hiring of a minority is important and good for the University, but it wasn’t the deciding factor in his decision. “I’m proud to be a part of an institution that rec ognizes that minority candidates can be qualified candidates for positions like this,” Moos said. “That wasn’t a big factor when I went into the search. I liked the qualities that I saw in Ernie Kent for what he is as a man and as a basketball coach. “But there are maybe certain things that will be a plus in regards to him being an African American and that is in the area of recruiting. And if that is a plus in that regard, then we’re all the better. He would have been hired regardless of what race he is.” From his time at Oregon in the college years, to Saudi Arabia, to Colorado, to California and now back to Eugene, Ernie Kent has definitely come full circle. “It’s been a long march to get back here,” he said. “But it’s one that I’m thankful that I went through.” All You Can Eat Spaghetti with Garlic Bread for only $325 Now Featuring Cigars and a New Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Menu! DOC’S PAD Sports Grill & Bar X 6 WEST 1 1 T H 6 8 3- 8101 ODE Classifieds... Worth Looking Into!
