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.”
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