The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1451622
2022 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE 40 THE WOLVERINE MARCH 2022 ANDREW GENTRY OFFENSIVE TACKLE 6-8 • 310 COLUMBINE HIGH SCHOOL LITTLETON, COLO. RANKINGS STARS NAT. POS. STATE ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ 64 7 1 — — — — ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ 147 11 2 ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ 68 8 1 ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ 78 12 1 Note: Listed as a class of 2020 recruit HONORS • Four-year varsity starter whose team had a record of 45-7 and four playoff appearances. • Three-time Colorado High School Athletic Association first-team All- State selection. • Posted a 12-2 record his senior sea- son in 2019 with an appearance in the Class 5A state final. • Helped Columbine total more than 3,500 rushing yards and 51 touch- downs in 2019, when he was credited with more than 100 pancake blocks. • 2019 Colorado Gold Helmet Award winner, given to the state's top player for on- and off-the -field achieve- ments. • 2019 MaxPreps first-team All-Amer- ican. • Selected as a 2020 Polynesian Bowl All-Star. RECRUITMENT • Pledged to Michigan Dec. 8, 2021 after picking up his offer from the Maize and Blue in May 2018. • Picked U-M over notable offers from Virginia, Alabama, Ohio State and Notre Dame. Had signed out of high school with Virginia, but flipped to Michigan following Bronco Men- denhall stepping down as head coach of the Cavaliers in December 2021. • Recruited by Michigan offensive line coach Sherrone Moore and head coach Jim Harbaugh. DID YOU KNOW? • Father, Todd, played basketball at Brigham Young (BYU) from 1986-1987, 1989-1990. • Bother, JT, plays offensive line at BYU. • Born Oct. 26, 2001. NFL Draft pick after college. He was still selected in the sixth round of the 1995 NFL Draft, but turned down a three-year, $1.5-million contract to become a high school teacher who would not have to work on the Sabbath. Gentry asked him about how to apply what he learned on his mission to being a student-athlete at a place like Michigan. The advice is something he fully intends to take with him to Ann Arbor. "Something he said that I plan to apply is that on a mission, you learn to do things with the help of the Lord on your side," Gentry recalled. "Before the mission, I relied a lot on myself. On the mission, we pray before everything we do. We know there is some heavenly help. What's im- portant to us is important to God. "As a student-athlete going to Michi- gan, I fully intend to apply that in my life. I'm going to ask the Lord for help before class, before I go to the weight room and before I go to practice. I know he's going to help me. "It's also the power of planning. We have to live on our own, so we have to plan our days, make our meals, help manage other missionaries, clean and so many other things. I can't even call my mom and ask her how to cook something. It's something I'm excited to apply." Gentry has also learned the value of teamwork. All missionaries are assigned a companion to live and serve with for around 12 to 18 weeks before being as- signed a different companion. "You're thrown into a situation where you live with someone you've never met for 24 hours a day," Gentry said. "It's the same with a football team. You have to learn to combo block with someone you've never met before. As a missionary, you learn how to get to know someone and work with them quickly. "I've learned a lot of skills in regards to getting to know people quickly and work- ing with them efficiently. I plan to use that at Michigan to help me with school and football." STAYING THE COURSE All missionaries receive their call to serve after submitting recommendation papers to the church. Gentry submitted his interest in January 2020 and received his call to serve in Argentina the following month. Gentry was set to travel to Mexico to learn Spanish for six weeks at a mission- ary training center before making his way down to South America. That never happened. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Gen- try learned Spanish online in just six weeks and was reassigned to Utah. "It was definitely a shock," Gentry said. "But about nine months in, I got this feel- ing that the Lord needed me here to teach people and to meet people in this mission. It was a feeling out of the blue, and we call that a prompting. I knew it came straight from the Lord. "At that point, I said, 'I'm going to stay here because I feel like I need to stay here.' And obviously, I loved it, too." Gentry was eventually given the op- portunity to finish his mission in Argen- tina but politely declined. He's invested so much in the Hispanic community and fully believes he's right where he needs to be. Along with helping people of the com- munity from a spiritual standpoint, Gen- try also does some physical work if called upon. During his mission, he has helped people move, shovel snow, paint houses, mow lawns and much more. "The other night, those two showed consensus James Evanson, Gentry's mission president, raved about the youngster 's leadership, sense of responsibility, self-discipline and drive, among other qualities. "I think he'll lift other members of the team," Evanson said. "He has a real knack to motivate people. … He's what we want in a man who serves a mission." PHOTO BY EJ HOLLAND