The Chris Jent Effect

Dave’s back with a look at the guy behind the guy behind the guy for Buckeye hoops this year. You can get insight and wisdom from Dave in 140 character chunks here: @daverini

I don’t know about you, but this is absolutely my favorite time of the year. Where college football, the NFL and college hoops collide bringing something great to watch almost every night. Couple that with the fact that Urban Meyer needed to buy a turn-style for the recruits piling in and it’s made for a great fall/winter. The cherry on top, which is sadly a distant second in discussion, is the leader of the men’s college basketball team – Thad Matta. Despite what ESPN tries to feed the nation, it’s a great time for Buckeye Nation because I believe that Thad is as good of a recruiter as Urban is, but just gets less attention for it because football always comes first. That’s another argument, for another time, in another bar.

Digging even deeper behind the incredible coach and recruiter that is Thad Matta, is Chris Jent. Much like what Thad has done for Buckeye hoops, I believe that Jent’s impact has been somewhat overshadowed by the many storylines that are evolving this season. It’s understood that he hasn’t been in his role long enough, but he still plays a very major part that doesn’t get nearly enough attention, in my opinion.

Admittedly, I was pretty young and never watched Jent while he was with the Buckeyes from ’88-’92, so I cannot speak from any personal viewpoint on his play. However, I do know that he was known as quite the hustler and “scrapper” during his tenure, not to mention that he’s 8th all time at OSU for his 38% 3-point shooting.

Although it’s not a measurable, I bring up the fact that he was such a high-energy guy during his playing days because that is exactly what he’s brought to the teams he’s coached. Watching the Cleveland Cavaliers during his time there, it became very evident, very quickly. The team prided itself on defense and in the ’08-’09 season, the Cavs led the NBA in defense allowing 91.4 points per game. I’m not typically an NBA fan simply because of how little effort and enthusiasm the players appear to have, but that team was an exception and very fun to watch because of it. I know that head coach Mike Brown was also known for defense, but for the sake of my A.D.D tangents and wrapping this up before March Madness, we’ll gloss over that.

Jent’s hiring came as a bit of a surprise to me in that, he was held in very high regard by the Cavaliers and the city of Cleveland. Jent coming back to his alma mater either speaks volumes to his roots, Matta’s recruiting capabilities, or his belief of what he can do at Ohio State with this young talent. I truly believe it’s all of the above and he couldn’t be stepping in at a better time. Remember, part of Jent’s previous roles heavily highlighted “player development” and with this young team, he has the chance to mold these kids into something special.

“I think, with my personal experiences, I can help guide student-athletes in the right direction and give them a true evaluation of who they are,” he said. “Because I’ve been there, and I’ve seen players and kids at the next level, and I knew right away if they were or weren’t going to make it. And I could tell you the reasons why in watching them. So if I see those reasons why you can or can’t make it while you’re in college, I’m going to address those things. And if that’s your ultimate goal, I’m going to try to help get you there in the right way.”

Read that quote closely and think about what that means as a potential recruit. Jent is speaking from personal experience at every single level from college player, to a brief stint as head coach in the NBA, with literally everything in between. While I don’t care for Quitness (putting it mildly) he was also LeBron’s personal shooting coach and traveled around the world working with him on a variety of skills. So the expertise that Jent brings not only has an immediate impact on the players currently on Ohio State’s roster, but it reaches far beyond because of the recognition he gets for it.

In an era where it’s becoming more and more common for a student-athlete to be “one-and-done”, Jent brings another dimension to the table for the kids that want to take advantage of it – a developmental path. Sure there will be kids who are drawn to a coach like Calipari because of the talent he’s turned out, but he’s always been and will always be in a re-load mode for recruits. Kids don’t go there to hone their skills or deepen their game, they go because they know it’s the quickest and easiest route to the NBA. As I’ve already said, Jent brings something very different. And the best thing about it? All of these highlights lie behind the Matta Mastermind.

“It’s no secret that Chris was one of the best in the NBA at making players better,” Matta said. “I don’t know if I could have got anybody better in the country than what he’s going to bring to the table in that regard.”
As it’s been stated many times, this truly is a special time for the Buckeyes. The media can paint any picture they want to create a bigger army in an attempt to trash all of Ohio, but we’ll see how all of this unfolds over the years.

There are annual conversations about how good each of these basketball teams really can be and often times followed up with some question about how the team will replace such talent.

I stopped questioning after Matta’s strongest and latest recruit in Jent.