The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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2022 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE MARCH 2022 THE WOLVERINE 41 2022 Projection Gentry will come to Michigan in the summer after returning from his two-year mission in Utah. He will need some time in the weight room to get back into playing shape and just to the strength levels he was at coming out of high school. Has a massive frame and was highly re- garded as a recruit in 2020, but has to re-adjust to playing football after two years away from the field with limited ability to even work out and condition. up wearing their shirt and tie, and they were filthy," Evanson said. "They had just spent the evening helping an older Hispanic move out of his trailer and into another place. They actually do a lot of moving — but any service they can find, they'll do it." Gentry has also taken on a leadership role within the mission as an assistant to the president. "He's a great leader," Evanson said. "He's extremely responsible. You give him a task, and it gets done. I never have to ask Elder Gentry to do something twice. He's a self-starter. He comes up with great ideas. A lot of times I'll be thinking of something that needs to be done, and he'll already have done it. "He's extremely motivational and highly inspirational. Right along with that, he is very compassionate. He's the nicest guy you'll ever meet. He just loves people. "You think of this football player — a 6-foot-8 lineman no less — and he is such a gentle and kind person. He has so much conviction for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He's what we want in a man who serves a mission." A NEW HOME Gentry was knocking on doors and go- ing through his usual duties as a mission- ary while Michigan was the talk of the college football world after beating rival Ohio State for the first time in a decade. Gentry had no clue about the result of The Game. He was also oblivious to the fact that Bronco Mendenhall stepped down as the head coach of the Virginia Cavaliers just a week later. Gentry signed with Virginia over Michigan during his initial recruiting process and fully in- tended on joining Mendenhall, a fellow member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and ex-BYU coach, in Charlottesville. News of Mendenhall's departure even- tually got to Gentry and a release from his National Letter of Intent was granted. "When the news broke, my wife and I quickly realized this was going to be a life-changing event for Andrew," said Gentry's father, Todd. "Before he left, he had mentioned that if the staff was bro- ken up, and if Bronco Mendenhall left, he would reconsider his decision. "We also realized with him being a missionary, he wouldn't want to be re- recruited. He was very thorough in the recruiting process. We couldn't speak to him until Monday, but we emailed him and updated him on the situation. "We didn't know this until Monday, but Andrew spoke to his mission presi- dent, and they provided some counsel to Andrew. He told him it was important for him to prepare for going home. They told him that if he needed to talk to his parents or anyone to do that, but make sure to take care of what needs to be taken care of with his mission. He prayed a lot. By the time we spoke to him on Monday, it was evident that he wanted to go to Michigan." Todd quickly reached out to U-M head coach Jim Harbaugh, who, along with offensive line coach Sherrone Moore, hopped on a plane to Utah to meet with Gentry. Harbaugh had lunch with Gentry for about 45 minutes and earned his com- mitment on the spot. Had Gentry gone to Argentina when offered the opportunity, there is a good chance the meeting never would have happened since he would have been out- side of the country. Gentry genuinely believes he was led to Michigan. "Michigan has a lot of great charac- teristics," he said. "The academics are great. The football program is great. It's hard not to consider those things. Better information leads to better inspiration. I had the information, and I just felt very strongly that Michigan was the place to go. "Meeting with Coach Harbaugh was a second confirmation. Even from the beginning, he was very supportive of me serving a mission." It may sound a little peculiar, but he also still believes he was called to Virginia out of high school. He recalled a story once told by a fellow missionary: A man and his son hit a fork in the road and decided to go left. When they got to the end of the road, they hit a dead end. The two turned around, and the son asked why they both felt like they needed to go in that direction. The father responded, "Sometimes the Lord has us go one way to show us that's not the way we're supposed to go." Gentry took that lesson one step fur- ther. Instead of just going to BYU like his brother or finding another school with a tie to the church, Gentry decided to blaze his own trail and made it official by signing with Michigan in December — a school far away from home with no Mor- mon link. This new road may be a little more difficult, but he is ready to embrace the challenge. "It's kind of weird," Gentry admitted with a laugh. "Like I said, I felt strongly about it, but I also felt like I could be an influence out at Michigan. You can be a great influence at BYU as well. My brother has seen that. "But you are part of the majority. I thought it would be a cool experience to be the only one. I thought it was a cool opportunity to share some of my beliefs. I'm really excited about that." Gentry graduated from Colum- bine High School, a place well-known for overcoming tragedy, is on the cusp of completing a two-year mission and found his way to the University of Michi- gan, which boasts prestigious academics and the winningest football program of all time. Needless to say, his journey to donning the iconic winged helmet has been noth- ing short of miraculous. "It's been cool to see the hand of the Lord in all of this," Gentry said. "It's meant a lot to me. I firmly believe it's about the process of changing. I feel like I've matured and grown spiritually. I was raised in that Columbine community, where you work for the things you have. You move past adversity. "That's one my favorite things I learned at Columbine High School and on my mission — this journey has taught me that I'm a lot stronger than I know." ❑