Ernie Kent followed a circuitous route to his job as the Washington State men's basketball coach.
His coaching career began in Saudi Arabia, where he lived in Dhahran for seven years during the 1980s, prior to Desert Storm.
"I coached basketball the first couple of years and spent five years with Aramco," Kent said, referring to the Arabian American Oil Company.
"I handled a lot of the entertainment for the Arabians and Americans living there," he said. "Baseball games, softball games, golf tournaments, square-dance callers -- anything needed in the way of entertainment, we provided."
Kent starred for Oregon in the 1970s before an injury ended his playing career. He worked as an assistant coach at Colorado State and Stanford before becoming the head coach at Saint Mary's, where he worked from 1991-97 and recruited two Alaskans -- Jumoke Horton of East and John Levett of Juneau. He was the head coach at Oregon from 1997-2000, where his recruits included Wasilla's Ray Schafer.
After getting fired at Oregon, he spent four years out of coaching. For part of that time, he worked as an analyst for the Pac-12 Network. He returned to coaching this season at Washington State.
"I feel like a big bear that has been in hibernation," Kent said at this year's Pac-12 media day. "And now it's time to come out and eat."
MARCH TOWARD MADNESS
If a Shootout team makes the NCAA Division I basketball tournament this season, it won't be a surprise. At least one Shootout participant has reached the big dance in 35 of 36 previous years. And the only season when a team didn't make the tourney -- in 2006-07 -- UAA qualified for the men's Division II tourney.
FAMOUS NAMESAKES
When Rice met Mercer in the Shootout's first round, it was a game between two schools that boast former coaches whose names remain famous 100 years after their heyday.
From 1903-05, the baseball coach at Mercer was Cy Young. As in Cy Young Award.
From 1924-27, the football coach at Rice was John Heisman. As in the Heisman Trophy.
A couple of other Shootout teams also have some familiar names on their lists of past coaches. Walter Camp, credited for inventing the line of scrimmage in football, coached football at Yale from 1888-92. The Walter Camp Man of Year honors players and coaches who have made significant contributions to the game. And Amos Alonzo Stagg played football at Yale in 1889 and coached football at Pacific from 1933-46. The Division III football championship game is named in his honor.
FAMOUS FOREBEARS
Jordan Strawberry, a Mercer Bears freshman from Santa Ana, California, has a last name many baseball fans will remember. Strawberry's dad is Darryl, the eight-time all-star during his 16 years in the majors with the Mets, Dodgers, Giants and Yankees.
Clara Mokri, a freshman on the Yale women's basketball team, is the daughter of Amir Mokri, a Hollywood cinematographer whose director of photography credits include "The Salton Sea," "Coyote Ugly," "Fast and Furious," "Man of Steel" and a pair of "Transformers" movies.
COZY CONFINES
The more intimate Alaska Airlines Center seats about 3,700 fewer people for basketball than Sullivan Arena, the Shootout's old home. How does UAA's 5,000-seat, basketball-specific arena stack up against those used by the 10 Division I schools participating in this year's men's and women's Shootouts? A look at the numbers shows the gym is a bit on the small side, but not too shabby. Here's a list of the 11 Shootout schools' home arenas, ranked by seating capacity:
1. Boise State – Taco Bell Arena, 12,480
2. Washington State – Beasley Colliseum, 11,671
3. Missouri State – JQH Arena, 11,000
4. Colorado State – Moby Arena, 8,745
5. Pacific – Spanos Center, 6,150
6. Rice – Tudor Fieldhouse, 5,750
7. UC Santa Barbara – SB Events Center, 5,600
8. (Tie) UAA – Alaska Airlines Center, 5,000
8. (Tie) Long Beach State – Walter Pyramid, 5,000
10. Mercer – Hawkins Arena, 3,500
11. Yale – Payne Whitney Gymnasium, 2,532
Average capacity: 7,038
BOUNCING BRAZILIAN
Pacific senior forward Gabriel Aguirre didn't play in the Shootout because of an injury, but that didn't keep him from participating in pregame warm-ups for the Tigers.
The 6-10 Brazilian spent much of the Tigers' pregame routine Friday standing on the sidelines casually bouncing a basketball -- on his head.
WHAT'S IN A NAME?
In Yale's game against UAA on Tuesday in the women's tournament, the leading rebounder for the Bulldogs was aptly named: Meredith Boardman.
Even better, the team from Holy Names University -- a Division II team that came to Anchorage earlier this month for a nonconference game against the UAA women -- has a player named Muhammad.
PLANNING A TRIP, PERHAPS?
The University of Connecticut women's basketball team has won nine Division I basketball championships, but they've never been to the Shootout. However, the Huskies' legendary head coach, Geno Auriemma, apparently has Alaska on his mind.
Following No. 3 UConn's 85-24 stomping of College of Charleston on Friday at a chilly converted hockey arena in Florida, Auriemma dropped a Shootout reference in his comments to the media.
"We haven't been in the Great Alaska Shootout in a long time. Maybe it was the weather that caught up to us," Auriemma said, according to the Associated Press.
For the record, although the UConn women have never played in the Shootout, the men were here in 1989 and 1995.