Just three years after leaving Ohio State to pursue a dream of coaching in the NBA, Chris Jent will return to the school at which he once played and coached. On Thursday, Ohio State announced it has hired Jent as an assistant on Thad Matta's staff.
Jent's name began to surface early last week as a possible replacement. The school finally made it official Thursday. He replaces Jeff Boals, who recently took the head coaching job at Stony Brook after seven seasons in Columbus.
"I think first and foremost with Chris, I love him as a person," Matta said Thursday. "I love the fact that his appreciation for his university is second to none. This place being successful means a great deal to him. You go to school here, you play here, you meet your wife here, all those things go in."
"And then you look at the basketball side of things, I think Chris as a player, he’s an NBA world champion, playing overseas, coaching at a lot of difference places, he was an NBA head coach for like 28 games," Matta continued "Those are things that he kind of brings to the table just in terms of his basketball knowledge, his intensity. He’s in great shape and probably could start for us next year if he has to.”
Jent was an assistant coach at Ohio State for two seasons from 2011-13 before leaving to take an assistant job with the Sacramento Kings. He spent this past season as the head coach for the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA's Developmental League.
Jent is an Ohio State alumnus who played for the Buckeyes from 1988-92. After a brief stint in the NBA, he began is coaching career overseas before returning to become an assistant in the NBA. He worked for the Philadelphia 76ers, Orlando Magic and Cleveland Cavaliers before joining Matta at Ohio State in 2011.
He joins Matta's staff along with fellow assistant coaches Greg Paulus and Dave Dickerson.
Matta said he hasn't yet determined what role Jent will have. Boals was in charge of Ohio State's defense the past seven seasons. Paulus controlled the offense for the last three years, but Jent handled those duties for his two years under Matta in the past. It's possible Jent takes over the offense and Paulus shifts to defense, but Matta said those conversations haven't taken place just yet.
“I haven’t got that far yet," Matta said. "I think once Chris gets in, he comes in [Friday] morning, we put him right on the road recruiting, once we sit down Monday as a staff and regroup and take a look at things we’ll start divvying all that up.”
