Veteran NBA coach carries lessons learned from the late Appalachian coach Press Maravich

BOONE, N.C.—As head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans, Alvin Gentry ’77 draws upon his experience — both athletic and academic — at Appalachian State University to manage and mold a Pelicans squad that includes such stars as DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis, and veteran point guard Rajon Rondo.

But the former Appalachian star also has to nurture young players like Charles Cooke, a rookie this season after playing at James Madison University and the University of Dayton.

“Coach Gentry is a very good coach,” Cooke said. “He definitely understands the game and can articulate it well.”

From Mountaineer to Pelican

Gentry, a Shelby native, grew up playing basketball at Shelby High School in the early 1970s, at a time when Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) basketball was at its apex.

The standout player dreamed of playing college hoops in the ACC, and he attracted a lot of attention from several major programs.

“I really wanted to go to Clemson. I wanted so much to play in the ACC,” he recalled.

But that was before his mother met Press Maravich — then head coach of Appalachian’s men’s basketball team. Maravich, who died in 1987, was head coach from 1972-75 and the father of basketball star Pete Maravich, nicknamed “Pistol Pete.”

“It was one of those deals that my mom felt very comfortable with coach Maravich,” Gentry said. “She said, ‘I trust this guy. This is where you are going to school.’”

The 6-foot-5-inch Gentry was a standout player at Appalachian from 1973-77, and earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in management. Soon after graduation, he landed his first assistant coaching job at the University of Colorado.

He was an assistant to coach Larry Brown at the University of Kansas (KU) in 1988, when the KU men’s basketball team — which featured star player Danny Manning, current head coach at Wake Forest University — won the national title.

Gentry was associate head coach for the Golden State Warriors during the 2014-15 season. That year, the Warriors won a franchise-best and league-best 67 games and captured the 2015 NBA crown with the assistance of star guard Steph Curry, a former Davidson College standout.

Gentry also led the Phoenix Suns to the 2010 NBA Western Conference finals.

After many years as a NBA assistant, Gentry was named head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans on May 30, 2015. He became the 45th coach in NBA history to win 400 games on Oct. 22, 2017, as the Pelicans beat the Los Angeles Lakers.

Campus and coach Maravich — a return to inspiring beginnings

Gentry tries to keep in touch with his alma mater. A few summers ago, he returned with his children to visit Appalachian’s main campus.

“It is such a beautiful campus; it is a peaceful campus,” he commented. “I saw the (new basketball) arena a few years back. I pull for them all of the time. I think they have a lot of things going for them.”

Although he has worked under coaches such as Brown, Paul Doug Collins and Tim Floyd, Gentry said the lessons he learned under Maravich remain with him.

“Coach Maravich, I think, was such a high-character human being. We struggled (to win) when he was there, but he was so locked in on trying to get us better with player development,” recalled Gentry, who also played for Bobby Cremins at Appalachian.

“I just loved (Maravich) from the moment I met him. I didn’t care about anything else that was happening there — because he was there.”

About Mountaineer Athletics

More than 400 student-athletes compete in 17 NCAA Division I varsity sports at Appalachian State University. App State’s nationally ranked football team has enjoyed unprecedented success at the highest level of Division I (Football Bowl Subdivision), with six bowl wins in its first six years at the FBS level and four Sun Belt Conference championships. The Mountaineers were a dominant force in the Southern Conference for more than 40 years before moving up to the Sun Belt Conference in 2014. App State student-athletes in all sports pursue daily comprehensive excellence in academics, competition and community involvement. All varsity teams compete in the Sun Belt Conference, except for field hockey (MAC) and wrestling (SoCon). Learn more at https://appstatesports.com.

About Appalachian State University

As the premier public undergraduate institution in the Southeast, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives as global citizens who understand and engage their responsibilities in creating a sustainable future for all. The Appalachian Experience promotes a spirit of inclusion that brings people together in inspiring ways to acquire and create knowledge, to grow holistically, to act with passion and determination, and to embrace diversity and difference. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Appalachian is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System. Appalachian enrolls nearly 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and graduate majors.

What do you think?

Share your feedback on this story.