Four-star Rivals100 OL Gentry says Virginia checked every box
When your offer list becomes a Who’s Who of college football, it can be easy to get lost in the recruiting process. That was probably never going to be the case for four-star Rivals100 offensive lineman Andrew Gentry.
But that doesn’t mean that it all came easily, especially considering how early it began. And now, a few days after committing to UVa and just days away from signing with the Cavaliers, the No. 65 overall player in the class of 2020 couldn’t be happier with the way things played out.
“It was super tough,” the Colorado native told CavsCorner of the process. “But it was super fun, too, being able to see these different places and meet a bunch of different people through this process. It was also definitely super stressful at times, too. It was stressful trying to narrow it down and then trying to pick a school. It’s stressful and hard having to tell coaches no, but in the end it was definitely the right place for me with Virginia.
“You really don’t ever imagine having offers from places like Alabama or LSU or Ohio State, things like that,” he added. “You kind of just go through the process and just play the game and see what happens. It was definitely kind of surprising and kind of humbling to be able to get some of the offers from some of these different places but I always wanted to play college football and that was the dream going into this, going into high school. Where I was going to end up or how I was going to end up there, that was the question. It came a little bit sooner than I expected because I got my first offer after freshman year and then recruiting really picked up after my sophomore year. So, it was definitely a cool process and a lot of fun.”
That Virginia ended up being the pick for the 6-foot-8, 305 pounder is a credit to offensive line coach Garett Tujauge but also to the entire staff as well as the university itself.
“I think with UVa, the thing I really liked the most was that I could get a little bit of everything that I wanted,” he explained. “It really checked all of the boxes for me. Obviously, it’s great academically. It’s a world-class education at UVa. Then also you’re playing in a Power 5 conference, you’re playing big teams and in big games and competing against the best. They obviously had a great year this year and have really built well in the past few years. They’ve improved a lot. And then there's the coaching staff, because I built a really great relationship with them.
“Them also being members of my church as well, that’s definitely huge,” Gentry added. “I’ll be going on my mission, so for them to be able to understand that and have worked with a ton of missionaries before was definitely another huge reason that UVa was right for me. For sure.”
The comfort level that Gentry developed over time with Tujague was different than what he had with many of the other assistants who recruited him along the way.
“The relationship I had with Coach Tujague was better than any other relationship I had with any of the other position coaches I had throughout this process,” he said. “Obviously, I have great relationships with a lot of different coaches but Coach Tujague always put in a ton of time and a ton of effort. Another big thing too was that he was one of the few O-line coaches that was actually able to recruit me over the entire process at the same school. I got different coaches sometimes. Like at BYU, I was recruited by one O-line coach and he left so then another and then he left too, so I had three O-line coaches that recruited me at BYU in the span of having that offer. With Coach Tujague and UVa, it was always him.”
There’s a general rule of thumb in recruiting that you might not have much of a shot if a player takes visits after yours and decides to decide later. But that wasn’t the case for Gentry, who saw UVa officially in May and didn’t make his decision for seven months.
“I wanted to try to make my decision before my senior season started and obviously that didn’t happen,” he said. “That was my plan at first. I wanted to have it done during the summer. But I was watching teams in the fall and trying to keep up with them but I can honestly say that I put recruiting on the side and didn’t really focus on it too much. That way I could focus on the team and trying to win state. We came up a little short but that’s where my focus was. Recruiting was on the backburner until the season ended and I had a chance to sit down and look at how the programs had done over the course of the season. UVa was the one that seemed like the best fit.”
Junior lineman Dillon Reinkensmeyer, also a Colorado native, was a big asset for Gentry as he went through the process especially because he never felt pressured.
“I would say the biggest thing he helped with was that he was always there for me to talk to if I needed to,” Gentry said. “He wasn’t ever pushing me or anything like that. He just wanted to help me and he answered whatever questions I had and he was always checking in. One of the biggest things too was that he helped me understand the development part and how Coach Tujague works. He talked to me about where he came from as a freshman and how he got to where he is now.
“To hear him talk about how much Coach Tujague has done for him, how much he’s helped him with his technique and everything, that was definitely big,” he added. “It’s clear that Coach Tujague really cares about his guys, really works with them, and the whole coaching staff is investing in making them all the best they can be both on and off the field. That was another factor in why I thought UVa was the best fit for me.”
The season the Wahoos had on the field solidified for Gentry that they were the pick.
“That was huge,” he admitted. “And I’ll say that, going into the college football season, I really had about four schools that were equally positioned in my mind. I couldn’t really decide between them and that’s why I delayed my decision. So, among those four schools, just how are they going to perform this year? Because they checked different boxes in different ways, so I wanted to see how teams would do and how they would improve and who was going to look good on the O-line. That was definitely a huge part of it.”
Coincidentally enough, while the decision wasn’t announced until Saturday, it was made a long before.
“So, what actually happened was that I kind of decided right after my season ended last Saturday,” he said. “That was kind of like when I had a chance to sit down with my family and talk it out and I decided that UVa was the right fit. Then on Thursday was when Coach (Robert) Anae, Coach (Bronco) Mendenhall, Coach Tujague, and Coach (Jason) Beck all came out for my in-home visit and I committed to them face to face.
“It was definitely awesome, to be able to do that,” Gentry added. “It was super cool to be able to do that. I was excited, they were excited. It felt great to have that weight lifted off my shoulders and to be able to commit to a school. That was pretty awesome.”
Following his two-year mission, Gentry understands that he will arrive in Charlottesville needing to adjust a bit to a style of play that will seem pretty new.
“Obviously, I come from a little bit of a different system,” he said. “We’re definitely run heavy, ground-and-pound, power-O. So, anywhere I was going to go I knew I was going to have to get into a different system. I just really like UVa’s offense and I’ve watched Coach Anae’s offense forever because I grew up watching BYU. So I’ve been able to watch what they’ve done and I really like it, having a dual-threat quarterback and I also really like how Coach Tujague coaches his guys. I’ve been able to talk to Dillon a lot and just hearing from him and from his dad and what they had to say, it was really helpful. It seems like a great system and how it fits me.”
Though it came a while later than he thought it would, Gentry is excited to have the process wrapped up and to be moving forward with UVa.
“It’s definitely a great feeling,” he said. “A lot of relief. That’s the word that comes to mind, relief. Just knowing that I can have this last semester of high school as a regular high school student and not have to worry abut coaches coming in and pulling me out of class, coaches texting me during class, who I have to call. It’ll be fun to kind of relax and enjoy this last part of high school.”
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