| Title: | Assistant Coach |
| Phone: | 864-503-5297 |
| Email: | khart@uscupstate.edu |
| Year: | 2nd Year at Upstate |
| Hometown: | Evansville, Ind. |
| College: | Carson-Newman '07 |
Kente’ Hart is in his second season as an assistant coach
with the USC Upstate men’s basketball program in 2012-13. He
assists in all phases of the program.
During the 2011-12 campaign, Hart assisted the Spartans to the best
turn-around program at the NCAA Division I level and helped coach
the A-Sun Freshman of the Year Ty Greene and A-Sun Player of the
Year Torrey Craig.
Hart most recently served as an assistant basketball coach at
Vincennes University during the 2009-10 season. The
Evansville, Ind., native assisted in all facets of the program,
including: recruiting, strength and conditioning, practices,
scouting and game preparations. He also coordinated team
travel and served as the team’s academic monitor.
Vincennes claimed 22 wins in 2009-10 and the team was the NJCAA
District III Runner-Up. Three players signed Division I
scholarships, while one other player signed with a Division II
institution.
Before making his way to Vincennes, Hart served as a student
assistant coach at Carson-Newman College from 2007-08 as he
completed his undergraduate degree. Hart assisted in the
coordination of opponent scouting, game film and game
planning. He also helped with individual workouts and was
responsible for filming home and away games. Hart graduated
in December 2008 with a B.S. degree in Physical Education.
Hart is familiarity with the Spartan coaching staff as he played at
Carson-Newman under then-associate head coach Kyle Perry.
Hart was a two-year letterwinner at Carson-Newman (2005-07).
He was named Second-Team All-South Atlantic Conference as well as
team MVP after a stellar senior campaign. He averaged 15.1
points, 6.0 assists and 2.9 rebounds per contest, while connecting
on 49 percent of his field goal attempts, 46 percent from beyond
the arc and 85 percent at the charity stripe.
The two-time conference player of the week finished the season 15th
nationally in assists. Hart was recruited to Carson-Newman by Perry
and played under Perry during the 2005-06 season. Hart was
also active in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes during his time
at the school.
Before arriving in Jefferson City, Tenn., Hart played two seasons
at Shawnee Community College in Ullin, Ill. As a sophomore,
he earned team MVP and First-Team All-Conference accolades after
leading the team in points (18.1 ppg), assists (6.1 apg) and free
throw percentage (87.0), while grabbing 3.1 rebounds per
contest. Hart also excelled in the classroom as he was named
to the Dean’s List and was a member of Phi Beta Lambda.