Recruitment of Andrew Gentry--"This is Michigan Football"
Pretty interesting article on how Michigan landed 2022 recruit OT Andrew Gentry.
Gentry is on his 2 year Mormon mission, which ends in May. He is limited to one day a week to do things unrelated to his mission. Apparently, recruiting is unheard of during this two year period, so it was unusual for Coach Harbaugh to be allowed to visit (he needed special permission). Shawn Nua, who is a member of the LDS Church and a former BYU DL, joined him on the visit.
Love the end of the article: "This is Michigan football."
December 10th, 2021 at 3:23 AM ^
Me: This guy has a lot of ties to BYU, including several family members who went there and a brother who is currently on the team, wonder what the reason he chose to go to Michigan was…
“[Andrew’s older brother] has had a wonderful time at BYU. You can see him on TV standing next to offensive line coach Darrell Funk, holding a clipboard,”
Oop, found it.
December 10th, 2021 at 6:21 AM ^
Man, I completely forgot about that guy.
December 10th, 2021 at 9:05 AM ^
Beat me to it! Nice work, Pit.
Brings back disappointing memories of Brady Hoke's staff. Mattison could coach but the rest were nonentities.
December 10th, 2021 at 11:55 AM ^
While I would generally agree with you based on Funk's track record while he was the OL coach at Michigan, BYU actually does have a good OL.
December 10th, 2021 at 12:53 PM ^
Their starting QB was sacked 13 times. That seems... not too great.
December 10th, 2021 at 1:38 PM ^
Not sure if you’re being sarcastic or not but it’s literally ranked 11th in the country. Michigan was tied at 3rd in the country with 10 sacks
December 10th, 2021 at 3:25 AM ^
Seems like a great kid and a great addition to the team. Go blue!
December 10th, 2021 at 4:37 AM ^
Welcome, Mr. Gentry.
I hadn't realized it was such a major deal to simply talk to Harbaugh. Good job by the mission leader, the family, and Harbaugh to make it work.
December 10th, 2021 at 6:30 AM ^
from the article "6’8” 310lb OT - University of Michigan - 4.33 GPA - 1420 SAT"
seems like a great fit on many levels
December 10th, 2021 at 6:46 AM ^
Exactly, smart young man making a very smart decision to Go Blue!
December 10th, 2021 at 7:02 AM ^
* Edit: I initially opined that living in Ann Arbor and attending U-M was going to be a huge culture shock for Gentry, but in light of the comments below of those who are more knowledgeable about the Mormon church and the LDS community in A2, I'll retract that statement and consider myself a bit better educated as a result.
December 10th, 2021 at 7:06 AM ^
Because no Mormons have ever gone to Michigan?
The dude is from Denver and has likely been to Boulder. He’ll be fine.
December 10th, 2021 at 10:53 AM ^
What does Boulder have to do with anything? Not trying to be rude just curious.
December 10th, 2021 at 7:54 AM ^
Please elaborate, Don.
Littleton isn't in the middle of nowhere. Far from it. Neither is Orem, though of course it's more of a monoculture. Gentry is a clearly a bright guy and probably has some sense of what he's getting into. From the article:
"“He kind of wants to make his own path away from home and away from Provo,” said his father."
Ann Arbor is a small Midwestern city just as much as a place where city council members would like the buses to be constructed of textured vegetable protein. It's weirdness is highly overrated IMO and has dipped significantly in the last forty years.
Anyway, how severe can culture shocks be to inquisitive kids in the age of the WWW? I've seen numerous younger relatives adjust well to new environments distinctly different from ones they experienced in childhood and adolescence.
December 10th, 2021 at 7:57 AM ^
I attended Michigan after growing up in Utah and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Ann Arbor has a large contingent of LDS members and is my favorite city. No culture shock at all. Utah is a bubble, but not quite the bubble it once was.
December 10th, 2021 at 10:13 AM ^
I think there's an LDS church right next to Ross?
December 10th, 2021 at 10:55 AM ^
Homie trying to get some of that pink hair/nose ring type pussy. I see you young fella.
December 10th, 2021 at 7:16 AM ^
Incredible commitment from someone in the middle of a completely different incredible commitment to his LDS mission. Amazing story about how insulated and isolated Gentry is from the rest of the world during his duty. Still doesn't answer the question of how he picked Michigan but perhaps that doesn't matter as much as the fact that he did it!
December 10th, 2021 at 7:43 AM ^
As a HS senior, Michigan was a very strong second for his recruitment-we thought he was coming to AA for a while. Maybe this is a different take on "Absence makes the heart grow fonder". I will thank my family Virginia fans for this gift when we are out there for Christmas :) (I see that Gattis is being listed among the VA HC prospects.)
December 10th, 2021 at 8:17 AM ^
Had Mendenhall not retired, Andrew would still be solidly committed to UVA.
December 10th, 2021 at 7:36 AM ^
What a mountain of a young man! Mr. Gentry is a huge get-in every way for this class. It has been a while since I have watched his tape. I love the athleticism he demonstrates. Clearly he can play RT and if we can land Conerly to play LT-OMG!!!
Quietly the OL has been built into a position of sustainable strength. Paging down through the roster listing-lots of reason to be very optimistic-both today and tomorrow!
December 10th, 2021 at 7:52 AM ^
With his 2 years of already growing into his body he is primed to start for the next 3-4 years. Yes please!
December 10th, 2021 at 9:56 AM ^
It sounds like Gentry hasn’t had time to work out on his mission so he might need some time in the program before he really grows into his body
December 10th, 2021 at 1:56 PM ^
I'm a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Based on my own experience coming home from a 2-year mission, I'd be (pleasantly) surprised if he's ready to play this fall. Not a lot of time to exercise during the mission - I'm guessing he's got a long ways to go on his conditioning and it's hard for me to imagine that he can do that between May and the fall. But BYU players do it all the time I guess, so you never know.
December 10th, 2021 at 7:53 AM ^
I wish I would have known Harbaugh was only a mile or two away on Tuesday. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall. A fly wearing all Michigan gear and chanting Go Blue.
December 10th, 2021 at 10:19 AM ^
I'm not so sure you wouldn't have frightened them
I always think it best when Message Board guy stays far away
December 10th, 2021 at 8:04 AM ^
Did Harbaugh knock on his door, or did he knock on coaches?
December 10th, 2021 at 8:18 AM ^
Take a few minutes and read the linked article. It's actually very informative...
December 10th, 2021 at 9:00 AM ^
I did.
The alternate headline on the website is “Normally it’s missionaries who come knocking, this time it was Jim Harbaugh”.
December 10th, 2021 at 10:32 AM ^
Fair point - but then you should know! His parents called Harbaugh and asked if Michigan was still interested.
December 10th, 2021 at 11:06 AM ^
Whoosh....
December 10th, 2021 at 8:27 AM ^
The article, while informative, was kind of a mess - it bounced all over the place, seemingly without a table of contents/agenda that would have kept it more linear. Nonetheless, it had all if the relevant information and gave a nice background to the whole saga. I was surprised to see how much effort goes into a mission, especially here in the States! And a hearty 'well done' goes out to the mission president for allowing the meeting to take place. This guy could have flat out said no, but he realized the importance of it to Andrew's future.
I do remember his initial recruitment, Harbaugh wanted him badly. This two years of maturity and body growth will prove useful in a couple of years. He'll need a redshirt year to rebuild his strength and conditioning for games. But he shouldn't lose any of the athleticism that made him a sought-after 4-star.
December 10th, 2021 at 11:07 AM ^
Agree, it was a tough read...
December 10th, 2021 at 11:57 AM ^
I think most of the problem is that we are focused on Michigan football and the Desert News focus is the Mormon religion and Missionaries.
December 10th, 2021 at 3:46 PM ^
Yeah, Mormons and celebrity name dropping. Article was a complete mess no matter what the intentions were.
December 10th, 2021 at 8:48 AM ^
Thanks for the link. What other Mormon football or basketball players have we had who came here after serving their mission? I know we wanted Taysom Hill as a grad transfer, but I'm blanking on the others. We had Robbie Reid in basketball, but he also came here as a transfer.
December 10th, 2021 at 10:45 AM ^
Tyler Ecker was one. Spencer Brinton was another.
December 10th, 2021 at 2:36 PM ^
Sione Houma
December 10th, 2021 at 9:23 AM ^
What an exciting recruit for Michigan Football! BEEF!!!
Also, I am not very familiar with the Mormon faith it was interesting and informative to read a little bit about the missions.
December 10th, 2021 at 9:38 AM ^
Andrew was 88th in the country in the 2020 247 Composite, which would have been U-M's highest recruit rating in that class. Big time.
December 10th, 2021 at 10:10 AM ^
After Gentry committed, there was talk among other fanbases on Twitter, especially BYU fans, how there needs to be a ban on coaches recruiting during mission trips. I just kinda love how Harbaugh does certain things that other people didn't think of then they get pissed and call for it to be banned
December 10th, 2021 at 10:35 AM ^
I think the fact that the father ran point, both schools respected the rules that were set out, and the mission president approved an in-person meeting after the decision had been made, makes this argument sort of silly.
Methinks BYU fans get testy when they finish #2 for an LDS recruit, especially a legacy.
December 10th, 2021 at 10:48 AM ^
Yeah, none of them would've complained if BYU coaches hung around for days making pitches.
Reading the article, they clearly made every effort to keep it simple and minimize the distraction. I'd really love to hear his companion's story sitting in on that lunch and listening to what Harbaugh said.
December 10th, 2021 at 10:27 AM ^
interesting read.
Obviously i've heard of Mormon Missionaries, but not all that goes into it.
thanks for the article. Fascinating stuff
December 10th, 2021 at 11:19 AM ^
So he'll redshirt his freshman year while he gets into playing shape, and then it's man-all his RS fresh year.