[2] Prior to Washington State, he served as the head men's basketball coach at the University of Oregon and at Saint Mary's (CA).

[4] Nicknamed "Million Moves", he was a part of the Kamikaze Kids, known for constant hustle and extremely aggressive play in their attempts to win ball games.

As a Class of 1973 senior, he was named Parade Magazine All-American, Scholastic All-America by Scholastic Magazine, Illinois High School Association (IHSA) All-State, received the American Legion Outstanding Achievement Award, and was a member of the National Honor Society.

[3] Kent and his wife were immersed in Arab culture, living in a Shiite Muslim village for their first two years,[3] also working for the Arabian American Oil Company in Dhahran.

[12][13] He was highly criticized for failing to sign two of the highest profile recruits to come from the state of Oregon for the class of 2007, Kyle Singler and Kevin Love.

[1] A decline in the success of his teams between 2004 and 2006, the perceived lack of development of highly regarded recruits as well as rumors of personal issues led many people to question whether Kent would remain at Oregon after the 2005–2006 season.

But after the season, the school's athletic director at the time, Bill Moos, issued a statement affirming his support for Kent.

Senior point guard Aaron Brooks said that he felt the team let Kent down the previous season for wanting to play in an up-tempo style but not conditioning for it.

On March 31, 2014, Kent was hired to replace Ken Bone as the Men's Basketball coach at Washington State University.

[18] Ernie Kent was born January 22, 1955, in Rockford, Illinois and has three adult children: Marcus, Jordan and McKenzie.