ALVIN GENTRY
Assistant Coach at KU, 1986-88
http://www.nba.com/coachfile/alvin_gentry/index.html
Alvin Gentry
College - Appalachian State '77
In just his first season as the team's head coach, Alvin Gentry guided the
Clippers, the NBA's second-youngest team, to a 16-win improvement over the
1999-2000 season. The Clippers' turnaround was the best in the NBA last season
and the second-best in franchise history. In just their second season in STAPLES
Center, Gentry led the Clippers to their first winning home mark (22-19) since
the 1992-93 campaign. The Clippers' 31 wins in the 2000 season also represented
their highest win total since the 1996-97 campaign. Gentry's accomplishments
were recognized at the end of the season when he finished tied for fifth (George
Karl, Milwaukee) in NBA Coach of the Year voting.
Actually, last season marked Gentry's second stint with the Clippers, but his
first as a head coach after serving as a Clippers assistant coach under Mike
Schuler during the 1990-91 season. Prior to becoming the Clippers' head coach on
August 10, 2000, Gentry spent three seasons as the head coach of the Detroit
Pistons, compiling a mark of 73-72 (.503) over that stretch. Replacing Doug
Collins on February 2, 1998, Gentry guided the Pistons to a 16-21 (.432) record
during the remainder of the season. His record improved to 29-21 (.580) during
the lockout shortened 1998-99 campaign when he led Detroit to a third place
finish in the Central Division, losing to Atlanta (2-3) in the first round of
the playoffs. Gentry was replaced in Detroit midway through the 1999-2000 season
after guiding the Pistons to a record of 28-30 (.483).
Gentry received his first head coaching opportunity with the Miami Heat, taking
over as interim head coach on February 14, 1995, and finishing the season with a
record of 15-21 (.417).
Prior to earning his first head coaching job, Gentry worked his way up from the
bench, serving as an NBA assistant coach for ten seasons under Larry Brown,
Kevin Loughery and Doug Collins, a trio who have combined to total 1,520 NBA
victories.
Gentry's first NBA assistant coaching opportunity came with the San Antonio
Spurs, where he spent the 1988-89 and 1989-90 seasons. Gentry then moved to the
Clippers for the 1990-91 season before taking a job working on the bench for the
Heat from 1991 through 1995. After leaving the Heat, Gentry moved to Detroit
where he served as an assistant for almost three seasons before being promoted
to head coach.
After an unsuccessful tryout with the Denver Nuggets in 1977, Gentry began his
coaching career as a graduate assistant at the University of Colorado during the
1977-78 season. After spending one year away from coaching while working in
private business, he returned to the bench when he received his first full-time
collegiate assistant coaching job at Baylor in 1980. Gentry then returned to
Colorado, where he first got his feet wet in the coaching profession, only this
time as an assistant coach from 1981-1985.
He moved on to the University of Kansas as an assistant under then Head Coach
Larry Brown from 1985-1988, and was instrumental in helping lead the Jayhawks to
the 1988 NCAA Championship before leaving with Brown for the Spurs prior to the
start of the 1988-89 season.
Before his coaching days, Gentry played collegiately at Appalachian State for
Press Maravich and former Georgia Tech Head Coach Bobby Cremins. Gentry
graduated from Appalachian State with a degree in Management in 1977.
The 46-year old Gentry and his wife Suzanne have two children, Ryan Marcus (4)
and Matthew Jackson (1). Gentry also has one daughter, Alexis (17).
Source: nba.com
Alvin Gentry
(born
November 5,
1954) is an
American professional
basketball coach, and college basketball player, who has led three different
NBA teams. He served as an interim coach for the
Miami Heat at the end of the
1995 season, and later coached the
Detroit Pistons and the
Los Angeles Clippers. As of March
2006, Gentry is an assistant coach with the
Phoenix Suns.[1]
He was born in
Shelby, North Carolina, where he grew up, and attended
Shelby High School. His first cousin is former NC State and NBA star
David Thompson.
Gentry played college ball at
Appalachian State University under
Press Maravich and
Bobby Cremins. In
1978, he spent one year as a graduate assistant at the
University of Colorado. He also was an assistant coach at
Baylor University under
Gene Iba, in
1980. Gentry served as an assistant at the
University of Kansas under
Larry Brown, where they won the 1988 NCAA National Championship. After one
year, Gentry joined the University of Colorado staff.
In
1989, he began his NBA coaching career as an assistant coach for the
San Antonio Spurs under
Larry Brown. It was in San Antonio that Gentry met his future wife, Suzanne
Harris, the daughter of a prominent Baptist pastor and sister of a local
sportscaster/radio host in the San Antonio area.
Gentry joined
Gregg Popovich,
R.C. Buford and
Ed Manning as
Larry Brown's assistant coaching staff during the 1988-1989 season when
Brown left Kansas to coach the Spurs.
After two seasons in
San Antonio, Gentry left to become an assistant for the
L.A. Clippers beginning in the 1990-91 season. The next year, Gentry joined
Pat Riley's staff as an assistant coach for the
Miami Heat. He then moved to Detroit following the 1994-95 season where he
served as an assistant for two and a half seasons before being named head coach
late in the 1997-98 season.
Gentry briefly returned to San
Antonio as head assistant coach following the 1999-2000 season, where he was
reunited with former co-assistants
Gregg Popovich (the Spurs head coach and vice president of basketball
operations) and
R.C. Buford (the Spurs General Manager). But the stint was short, with
Gentry accepting the head coaching position of the L.A. Clippers weeks after
taking the San Antonio job.
Position: Head Coach
