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Gonzaga Basketball

Stephen Gentry returning to Gonzaga as assistant coach

Stephen Gentry, second from right, sits on Gonzaga’s bench next to assistant coaches Brian Michaelson, right, and Donny Daniels during a February 2018 game. (Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review)
By Jim Meehan jimm@spokesman.com(509) 459-5585

Stephen Gentry, a walk-on at Gonzaga in the 2000s and director of basketball operations in 2018-19, is returning as an assistant coach.

Gentry spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach at Illinois.

He replaces close friend Tommy Lloyd, who was hired as head coach at Arizona in mid-April, and joins close friend Brian Michaelson and Roger Powell Jr. as GU assistant coaches.

Gentry is well versed on Gonzaga’s program. He was teammates with fellow walk-on Michaelson, finishing his four-year career in 2006. He played in 19 games between 2004-06.

During Gentry’s two seasons as director of operations, Gonzaga was 55-9 and reached the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight.

Gentry spent four seasons on head coach Brad Underwood’s staff at Stephen F. Austin and Oklahoma State. He was set to accompany Underwood to Illinois when Lloyd called and offered Gonzaga’s director of basketball operations position. Gentry had turned down the same position in 2014 and Gonzaga hired John Jakus, now an assistant coach at Baylor.

After two seasons with the Zags, Gentry joined Underwood at Illinois. The Fighting Illini were 26-39 in the two seasons before Gentry arrived and 45-17 over the past two years.

“Thank you Illinois for a tremendous two years,” Gentry wrote in a social media post. “Brad, I simply cannot put into words what you’ve meant to me as a mentor and friend over our six years together. Thanks for your trust and responsibility that allowed me to grow as a coach.”

Gentry implemented changes that resulted in an offense that ranked No. 8 in KenPom’s efficiency ratings, an improvement from No. 38 in 2020. Illinois joined Gonzaga as a No. 1 seed in this year’s 2021 NCAA Tournament. The Fighting Illini, who finished second in the final AP poll, lost to Loyola Chicago in the second round.

Gentry has three years of experience as an assistant coach and five years as director of operations, including two seasons at Texas A&M and one at Oklahoma State.

Gentry, who grew up in Fort Scott, Kansas, becomes the third Illinois assistant to exit the program in recent weeks. Orlando Antigua and Ron Coleman both were hired at Kentucky.

In Lloyd’s 20 years as an assistant coach, Gonzaga was 578-109 and played in the NCAA Tournament every season, including title-game appearances in 2017 and 2021.