Oregon men’s basketball coach Ernie Kent is going through a relatively peaceful offseason compared to his counterpart in the women’s program, Jody Runge.
Less than a week after securing a solid recruiting class, Kent has been appointed to two prominent positions that show the level of respect he is given nationwide.
Kent was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches’ board of directors Tuesday and also selected as an assistant coach for the United States’ 22-and-Under national team.
Kent was appointed to the position in the NABC by Kansas coach Roy Williams, who is president of the association. Kent joins big-name college coaches such as Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, Kentucky’s Tubby Smith, Oklahoma’s Kelvin Sampson and Stanford’s Mike Montgomery on the 15-member board. Santa Clara coach Dick Davey was the only other new addition to the board.
“It was a very humbling recommendation for me when I looked at some of the people on that board,” Kent said.
The organization’s mission is to protect the best interests of the college game, coaches and student-athletes. The NABC includes nearly 5,000 members, mostly college basketball coaches.
Another Duck is also involved with the NABC. Former Oregon head coach Jim Haney is the organization’s executive director.
“With the knowledge of the game and the genuine concern for student-athletes that [Kent and Davey] possess, the board will benefit immensely from having them serve as directors to this association,” said Haney, who was the Ducks’ coach from 1979-83.
Williams also gushed over the new appointees in a press release.
“Both Ernie and Dick have shown tremendous dedication to basketball and their student-athletes throughout their careers in this sport,” Williams said. “As guardians of this game, the NABC and its members see coaches as mentors who exhibit four core values: leadership, advocacy, service and education. Both these gentlemen have exemplified these values and we are proud to name them to our board of directors.”
Kent said the NABC board has influence over college basketball rules. He said the major rules the NABC will consider in the near future involve abolishing pre-season tournaments and expanding the current limit of eight scholarships per school every two years.
Kent said his appointment to the NABC board reflects well on Oregon basketball, and could help with recruiting in the future.
“It is an honor and a tribute to our program,” Kent said. “We’re always looking for creative ways to sell our program. This is a way to do that, because it says a lot about [Oregon].”
The Ducks coach will spend most of his summer with the U.S. junior team. Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim — also a member of the NABC board — appointed Kent as one of his assistants. The team will travel to Saitama, Japan, for the FIBA World Championship in August. The U.S. finished fifth at the same tournament in 1997, and first in 1993.
This season, the junior team has Croatia, South Korea, Argentina, Japan and Israel in its pool, with the championship game taking place August 12.
Kent said the coaching position may lead to recruiting opportunities as well.
“Obviously I’ll be seeing a lot of recruits,” Kent said.
He doesn’t think the NABC board will require much time, but said the coaching job with the U.S. junior team may eat into valuable summer recruiting.
“[The NABC] has two major meetings this summer and one at the Final Four,” Kent said. “With USA basketball, there’s a little more time involved with that. We don’t want to let that influence our summer recruiting.”
Kent said he is looking forward to the opportunity to sit down with the game’s best coaches.
“I hear it’s a great group, that they have a lot of fun and do a lot of good when they come together,” Kent said. “When I look at it, it gives me a chance to give something back to the game of basketball. This is a wonderful opportunity.”