sports spotlight: ty Kent

By Mike Tupa

BARTLESVILLE AREA SPORTS REPORT

TY KENT

Unlike the fading circles triggered by a skipping rock on a lake, a pebble of fate can provoke co-centric waves of destiny that keep spreading wider and absorbing other fates into its sphere.

An example — how could a coaching hire in 1991 by Oklahoma Wesleyan University result in three straight football wins in 2024 by the Bartlesville High School football team?

It was in January 1991 when OKWU — then known as Bartlesville Wesleyan College (BWC) — announced the hiring of 45-year-old Michigan native and former college basketball coach (Marion College, aka Indiana Wesleyan University) as its new head men’s basketball coach.

Kent — known for his feisty but controlled coaching style on the sideline and his kaleidoscopic collection of sweaters that seemed to be the product of an explosion of a rainbow factory — elevated BWC hoops to new and dizzying heights.

If Kent had not taken the BWC job, it’s doubtful his son Ty Kent would have never suited up for the Eagles.

It’s doubtful Ty would have ended up living in Bartlesville.

It’s doubtful that a freshman quarterback named Michael Kent — Rocky’s grand-progeny — would have taken over as Bruin quarterback in week seven of the 2024 campaign and helped save the season.

Ty Kent’s circles of impact in Bartlesville area sports are wider than that. He served for several years, starting in the late 1990’s, as the Copan High head boys coach and exuded his influence in those players’ lives.

He’s also been an unflagging volunteer and deeply-committed supporter during the years in youth sports, including football and basketball.

The incredible poet Edgar A. Guest offered these lines in the end of his offering, “Old Man Green”:

“This is all there is to tell,

boys and girls are doing well;

each with courage and with grace

fills in life an honored place.

Old Man Green is dead and gone,

but his worth is shining on;

this his praise, if praise be needed,

As a father he succeeded.”

The same could be said of Rocky Kent who threw a pebble of opportunity into the pond of fate and created ripples that still encircle with goodness the succeeding generations.

Ty Kent announcing for KWON Bartlesville Radio.

BECKY BURCH/Bartlesville Area Sports