Texas Tech kicked off its 2025 class with a bang on Tuesday night, landing a commitment from Stephenville speedster Tristian Gentry.
As a sophomore Gentry put up 61 receptions for 1,110 yards receiving and 14 touchdowns, and he's on pace to shatter those stats in his junior season, racking up 33 receptions for 726 yards and 8 touchdowns in just four games so far.
Gentry, like most Red Raider recruits, is also a standout on the track with a 100 meter time of 11.46 seconds and a Triple Jump of 43 feet, 8.75 inches this past spring.
In order to learn more about the newest Red Raider pledge we spoke with his head coach at Stephenville, Sterling Doty.
Off the field, how is Tristian with his teammates and what kind of person is Texas Tech getting here?
"Yeah so Tristian, he always has a smile on his face. He's just got a real infectious smile and draws in a lot of people. He does a good job of representing our program in the classroom and in the community. He doesn't just talk just a whole lot in class or talking to adults, but I would say around his friends, around his boys and around the coaching staff, I'd say he's got a loud personality. He doesn't always show it so he can be pretty, I wouldn't say shy, but just kinda quiet and kind of a deep thinker in the classroom."
On the field what makes him stand out and whenever you're talking to the Texas Tech staff, what was it that made that such a good fit?
"I think what made it so important is the Texas Tech staff seeing the value in him so early. Then of course, for Tristian, this is really a school that he's always looked up to and wanted to play there. You ask him and it's his dream school. Then he went up there (for camp) and ran so well and caught the ball well.
We were talking through it this summer and early in the season. You know, 'be patient with your decision here, you'll be able to go visit again. Go up to watch some games this fall and then get back up there for Junior Day and do all that kinda stuff' but he just kept going back to 'this is where I wanna be' and 'this is what feels like home to me' and 'I see myself going to school there'. That's always an important question that we ask is do you see yourself outside of football going to school there, and he was just always yes. So it felt right to him.
Then of course the Tech coaches feel very good about taking that commitment and they have him high on the board among 2025 receivers across the nation. With his production as a sophomore, good camp and good speed, I really do think without this commitment we coulda looked up and he would have been a national recruit just because of that elusive speed and his ability to make plays."
After putting up over 1100 yards as a sophomore, Gentry is already over 700 yards this season just four games in. What allows Tristian to have so much success in your offense?
"I think our offensive coordinator does a great job of getting our kids in situations to be successful. Ultimately they gotta make the plays. We've been in some really competitive ballgames, you know, played a great schedule. All four teams have been ranked in the top 20 in the state, three of those being 5A schools. So they've just been really competitive games and he's really come alive for them and he's just a very explosive player.
Our offensive coordinator, we're going into our 10th season together, is Kolt Kittley. That's Zach Kittley's first cousin. He's from rural Texas. So just kind of the connection there with Zach and obviously coach McGuire being so plugged into Texas high school football and our relationship staff to staff. They definitely know what type of football player they're getting.
And I think, it's important to say with Coy (Eakin) up there, he definitely has a Stephenville feel and although they're gonna be a couple years apart, they're gonna have that familiarity being in the same meeting room and being around Coy again."
Who are some of your other guys college football fans should keep an eye on for the future?
"In our 2024 class we've got a running back, he's got an in-town offer here at Tarleton State, he set the school record for rushing yards last year and most rushing yards and his name is Tate Maruska. He's off to another really good year.
Our quarterback (Ryan Gafford) is a junior and he played 5 games last year as a sophomore, got to start for us at QB. He's having a good season, obviously him and Tristian got a special connection. I really do think some big time production is coming out of him.
We've got seven sophomores starting, and probably the leader of that, a kid that we brought up halfway through his freshman year is a defensive tackle and plays backup offensive lineman for us as an emergency, but he's a starting DT. That's kids name is Kolton Dearth. He's got a bright, bright future."
