Joseph Gentry, a renowned coach at the college and high school levels for the past three decades, has passed away due to cancer at age 66.
Gentry spent 20 years coaching at the college level. He first helped lead his alma mater, Tennessee, for 15 years, including 3 as the head coach of the women’s program. He eventually left Tennessee to spend 6 years at Old Dominion, leaving that program in 1991.
Gentry took over as the first head coach at Cox High School in Virginia Beach, Virginia in 1995, and coached there through last season. His tenure included a 2012 state championship with the boys program.
Gentry, who experienced that high school state championship as well as an NCAA Championship as an assistant with the Tennessee men in 1978, was a coach with a passion for his career. The Virginia Pilot profiled him in 2012, writing that he was inspired to coach by the legendary John Wooden. You can read that full profile here.
His funeral happened this morning in Virginia Beach. Gentry’s impact is still felt on the programs he once coached, and he was eulogized glowingly by all of his former programs. You can read remarks from the University of Tennessee here, Old Dominion University here and the Virginia Pilot here.
