Gentry Inducted into McLendon HOF

Posted By: autumn cade on July 07, 2010

Tennessee State University salutes the Gentry family, on the recent induction of Howard C. Gentry, Sr into the John McLendon Minority Administrators Hall of Fame in Anaheim California.

Gentry, Sr., served Tennessee State University for over twenty-one years as a football coach (1955 – 1961) and athletic director (1961-1976). He was instrumental in guiding TSU coaching legends John Merritt (football), Ed Martin (Basketball) and Ed Temple (Women’s Track) during his leadership of the Tigers’ athletic program.

As a football coach, Gentry produced an overall record of 42-10-1, including a perfect 10-0 season in 1956 when the Tigers were named Black College National Champions after their 41-39 win over Florida A&M in the Orange Blossom Classic.

Under Gentry’s stewardship as an athletic director, Tennessee State teams appeared in five NCAA Bowl games, captured five Black College Football Championships, and saw over eight Tigerbelles perform as Olympian track stars.

An inaugural member of the Tennessee State University Athletic Hall of Fame, Howard Gentry, Sr. (1983), has been immortalized on campus by having the main athletic building named in his honor, the Howard C. Gentry Athletic Complex. The building contains a 10,000 seat main basketball arena, a five-lane Indoor track, an Olympic sized pool and a fully equipped Wellness Center.

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autumn cade
Cal St Univ, Long Beach class of 2015
Member Since June 2010

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