Hall of Fame
Gentry, a native of Detroit and graduate of Harper Woods Regina HS, lettered four seasons in women's basketball and one season on the softball squad. She has remained involved with Tartar athletics long after finishing her playing career, serving as a student coach and on two boards at the university. Gentry earned varsity basketball letters in 1981-82, 1982-83, 1983-84 and 1984-85. Gary Bryce, her final basketball coach in 1984-85, invited Gentry to return to the 1985-86 season as a student assistant coach, and then had Gentry play on the1986 softball team, which he coached. She was a three-year starter for the basketball squad, and became the fifth player in Wayne State's history to score over 1,000 points in a career. Gentry finished with 1,059 career points scored. She also set five WSU career records. Gentry played in 113 career games, still the Tartars' standard. She also made 235 career free throws, made 210 steals, blocked 67 shots, and as an indication of her tenacious and very demanding playing style, Gentry set the Tartar career record for personal fouls with 400. Her 379 points scored during her senior year led the team, and she finished fourth in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) in scoring with a 14.1 conference scoring average. Gentry co-captained the 1984-85 team along with another Athletic Hall of Fame inductee today, Pearly (Cunningham) Armstrong. Heading into the 1984-85 season, The South End noted that "there is no way this year's team should win more than five or six games, tops." Gentry lead the team to a 16-11 overall record, and second place finish in the GLIAC at 12-4. After the conclusion of the 1984-85 season, Gentry was voted to the All-GLIAC Women's Basketball First Team, GLIAC Women's Basketball All-Defensive Team, and GLIAC Women's Basketball All-Academic First Team. She was named as Wayne State's 1984-85 GLIAC Women's Scholar-Athlete, and the Tartars' voted her the 1984-85 team MVP. Gentry was named to the 1983-84 All-GLIAC Women's Basketball Honorable Mention team. During and after her WSU playing career, Gentry worked as an assistant in the Department of Athletic's Business Office, and she also served several terms as a member of the Wayne State Athletic Hall of Fame Board of Directors. For the past few years she has served as an alumni member of the Wayne State Athletic Advisory Board. Gentry graduated in 1986 with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, and immediately returned to school at Wayne State. In 1989 she earned a second B.S., this time in Nursing. Since May 1989 Gentry has worked as a nurse for William Beaumont Hospital in Troy, Mich. She is currently a registered nurse at Beaumont in its surgical short-stay unit. Gentry has worked as an assistant coach on the interscholastic level at both high school's in Royal Oak, Mich., and has taught at numerous summer camps. She is still an avid athlete, playing recreational basketball and softball each year. As a prep athlete at Harper Woods Regina, Gentry earned two letters and started two years on the basketball squad. In her senior season, 1980-81, Gentry earned all-league honorable mention and was the team's MVP. She also earned varsity letters on Regina's softball and track teams. While studying nursing at Wayne State Gentry received a Charles Walsh Memorial Scholarship from the School of Nursing in 1989. She is a member of Sigma Theta Tau International, a honor society of nursing. Gentry is single, and she resides in Shelby Township, Mich.
