Former Ohio State player and assistant coach Chris Jent is an NBA champion. As the New York Knicks wrapped up the NBA Finals by beating the San Antonio Spurs in five games on June 13, Jent celebrated the title as the team’s associate head coach on the staff of Mike Brown.
In an alternate timeline, Jent potentially could have been in Columbus instead.
In the final hours leading up to the March 2024 decision to promote interim Ohio State men’s basketball coach Jake Diebler to the full-time job, there was a push from former players hoping to see incoming athletic director Ross Bjork hire Jent.
Unaware that the search was wrapping up, more than a dozen Ohio State men’s basketball alumni were expressing their support in a behind-the-scenes text message campaign. Before the Dispatch could report on these messages, Diebler emerged as the favorite for the job.
The Dispatch began receiving texts from multiple former players on March 15, the same day the Buckeyes took a 77-74 loss to Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals in Minneapolis. The messages continued the next day.
“As a former Ohio State basketball player and supporter of THE Ohio State University, I support Chris Jent for the head coach position,” they all read. “Chris will win and enhance the culture and future of THE program.”
Each then ended with the same hashtag: “FormerPlayers4Jent.”
None of the messages were anti-Diebler or any other candidate, and once it became clear that Diebler was likely going to retain the job, many of the same players messaging The Dispatch shifted their support toward Bjork’s likely hire. Diebler was named OSU’s new coach March 16th.
On the main floor at the Jerome Schottenstein Center on March 18, Diebler repeatedly thanked the former Buckeyes who were in attendance and occupied an entire seating section. Although some had been supporting Jent’s candidacy, they felt it important to show they were now firmly behind Diebler.
It marked the second time Ohio State had considered Jent for its head coaching job before going in a different direction. After firing Thad Matta in 2017, Jent interviewed with athletic director Gene Smith but was passed over for Chris Holtmann. Jent also talked with Bjork in 2024.
From 1989-92, Jent played in 123 games, averaging 8.2 points and shooting 38.2% from 3-point range before embarking on a nine-year professional career. He then got into coaching in 2003, joining the Philadelphia 76ers as an assistant. Jent had two stints as an assistant coach at his alma mater, working for Matta from 2011-13 and again from 2016-17 in Matta’s final season with the program.
LeBron James praised Matta’s hiring of Jent in 2016 after the former Buckeye had been his shooting coach for years while with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“I think it’s great,” James said inside the Cleveland Clinic Courts. “Obviously, I know how much [Jent] loves Ohio, how much he loves Ohio State, and I think it’s great for the program to get a basketball mind like that. I’ve got a long history with him, and it’s great to see him back in Columbus.”
After the Knicks won the championship, Jent’s boss publicly stumped for him to be a head coach in the NBA.
“Chris Jent, my associate head coach, I’m surprised he hasn’t gotten an interview,” Brown said during his press conference. “He’s our offensive coordinator. He’s been around for a long time. Somebody needs to give him an interview because he’ll help your team win at the highest level.”
Ohio State men’s basketball beat writer Adam Jardy can be reached at ajardy@dispatch.com, on Bluesky at @cdadamjardy.bsky.social or on Twitter at @AdamJardy.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Before Jake Diebler hire, some Ohio State alumni pushed for Chris Jent
Reporting by Adam Jardy, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Adam Jardy, Columbus Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
