Stephen Gentry enters his fifth season as an assistant coach on Mark Few’s staff. Gonzaga compiled a record of 112-27 in his first four seasons on the GU staff as an assistant coach, which was the third-best winning percentage in the country over that span.
Gentry’s primary responsibilities include overseeing the Zags offense and player development where he works extensively with the guards. Gentry’s impact was felt on the offensive end in 2024-2025 as the Zags averaged 86 ppg (2nd highest in the country) and posted a 1.24 points per possession, the 2nd highest rating ever at Gonzaga.
Gentry oversaw the development of the guards including All-WCC performers Ryan Nembhard and Nolan Hickman. Nembhard had a record-breaking final season. He set new conference and program single season, season average, and single game assist records in 2024-25. He led the nation in assists the entire season with 344, the fifth-most in NCAA history. His 882 career assists rank 22nd all-time in the NCAA, and were the most by a Canadian in NCAA Div. 1 history. Nembhard also broke West Coast Conference assists in league play records. The senior led Gonzaga to breaking the program’s team assist record, which was also second in conference history. He was third in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio, and second in the conference in minutes played. His 60 steals this season were the seventh-most in program history. For his efforts, Nembhard was named First Team All-WCC and First Team All-District by the NABC. He was in the Top 10 for the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award and was named to Midseason Watch Lists by the Wooden Award and Naismith Trophy.
Before arriving at Gonzaga in 2021, Gentry was an assistant coach at Illinois. At Illinois for two seasons, Gentry oversaw schematic changes on offense and defense that led to increased winning. Prior to his arrival at Illinois, the Illini had a combined 39 percent win percentage in 2017-18 and 2018-19. While at Illinois, Gentry and the Illini had a 79 percent win percentage. Illinois' improvement of plus-9 wins from the 18-19 to the 19-20 season, Gentry's first on staff, was the largest win improvement in the country.
Gentry was the offensive coordinator for one of the country's most prolific offenses his last season at Illinois. The Illini had a Top-10 offense in efficiency (8th in KenPom) and averaged over 80 points per game, which was the fifth highest amongst high major programs. He oversaw the development of a guard position group that included First Team All-American and Bob Cousy Award Winner Ayo Dosunmu and Big 10 Sixth Man of the Year winner Andre Curbelo.
During his time at Illinois, the Illini led the Big 10 in combined wins the last two seasons, winning 72 percent of their league games. Illinois posted back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since 2013-14, and enjoyed two-straight NCAA tournament berths. Illinois earned a one-seed in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, which was a first for the program since 2005. The Illini won the 2021 Big 10 Tournament, and finished No. 2 in the final Associated Press poll behind Gonzaga.
Gentry was Gonzaga's Director of Operations in 2017-18 and 2018-19. The Bulldogs had a stellar 65-9 record over Gentry's two seasons, winning back-to-back West Coast Conference titles and twice advancing to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
Gonzaga went 32-5 in 2018, winning both the West Coast regular season and tournament championship, and made an NCAA Sweet 16 appearance. The 2019 Bulldogs, meanwhile, were 33-4 overall and a perfect 16-0 en route to the WCC regular season title. Gonzaga won the Maui Jim Maui Invitational, held the No. 1 ranking in the AP poll for a total of five weeks, and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, advancing to the Elite Eight.
Prior to being on the GU staff, Gentry was at Stephen F. Austin for three years and Oklahoma State for one. Gentry's four seasons with Underwood saw their teams go a combined 109-27, including three conference championships and four NCAA Tournaments.
Prior to SFA, Gentry spent six seasons at Texas A&M, including his final two as the Director of Basketball Operations under head coach Billy Kennedy. Previously he worked for four years as the video coordinator under former Aggie head coach Mark Turgeon. Gentry was a part of one of the most successful eras in Aggie basketball and in his six seasons helped the program win 129 games, advance to four NCAA Tournaments and develop three future NBA draft picks.
Gentry came to A&M after one year as a video intern for the NBA's Miami Heat and Hall of Fame coach Pat Riley. The Heat won the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference in Gentry's season with the franchise.
Gentry played four seasons at Gonzaga for Coach Few, lettering three times as a guard. During Gentry's four years, the Zags put together a 107-20 record, winning four straight West Coast Conference titles. Gonzaga advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen in 2006 and made the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament three other times in his career.
Gentry is married to the former Leah Wahlgren, who played college basketball at Oklahoma State. They have a daughter, Svea, and son, Gunnar.
