Ohio State assistant coach and former player Chris Jent will interview for the vacant Buckeye men's basketball head coaching position today, according to a report from the Columbus Dispatch.
The report indicates current players have been told by athletic director Gene Smith that they'll have a new coach by the end of this week.
Jent, a forward for Ohio State from 1988–1992, spent three years on Thad Matta's staff from 2011–13. After a stint in the NBA, he returned to the Ohio State bench last season.
| Season | Team | League | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003–04 | Philadelphia 76ers | NBA | Assistant |
| 2004–05 | Orlando Magic | NBA | Assistant |
| 2005 | Orlando Magic | NBA | Interim HC |
| 2006–2011 | Cleveland Cavaliers | NBA | Assistant |
| 2011–13 | Ohio State | Big Ten | Assistant |
| 2013–14 | Sacramento Kings | NBA | Assistant |
| 2015–16 | Bakersfield Jam | NBADL | Head Coach |
| 2016–present | Ohio State | Big Ten | Assistant |
As a Buckeye, Jent is one of just 27 players to top 1,000 points (1,007). He lettered all four seasons in Columbus and finished his final campaign with a 12.6 points-per-game average, helping the 1991–92 team to a Big Ten Championship, a 26-6 record and a final regular season ranking of No. 3 in the AP Poll before the team eventually fell to Michigan in the Elite 8.
As a professional, Jent went undrafted in the 1992 NBA Draft, and signed on with the Rapid City Thrillers of the CBA. He played briefly for the Houston Rockets and New York Knicks in the NBA, actually earning a championship ring with the Rockets in 1994.
Jent began his coaching career with a stint on the Philadelphia 76ers bench in 2003. He moved on to the Orlando Magic the following season, and was appointed interim coach of the Magic for the final 18 games of the season after head coach Johnny Davis was fired.
For five seasons, Jent spent time on the Cleveland Cavaliers bench, working with LeBron James, before returning to Ohio State in 2011 for three years. He then spent one season as an assistant with the Sacramento Kings and then one campaign as the head coach of the Bakersfield Jam of the NBADL. Last April, he returned to Columbus.
Jent's son, Jimmy, was a member of the Ohio State team as a walk-on last season, but left the squad to focus on academics in May.
Matta was relieved of his duties Monday after 13 seasons in Columbus.
