Jan Gentry Musing

I was surprised to search my site and find that I mentioned Jan Gentry (NCAA Associate Directory of Championships and Alliances) in only 6 articles. I also don’t believe I was being negative in any of them. But, when it comes to Ms. Gentry, I do have a negative opinion of her. I mention all of this because I had a coach tell me that she was retiring from the NCAA and I was pleased.

So, let me tell you where I’m coming from on all of this. It’s a story that I’ve probably told once or twice on this site but maybe not in total or in an entirely coherent way. When I tell this story, you might come away with the thought that I am being negative towards the Colorado College Tigers. Just know that this is not the case. The year was 2014 and my beloved Southwestern Pirates team was coming off a 26-9 season. They were regionally ranked and had some good wins during the season. The problem was they had lost all of their out-of-region matches against quality programs (WashU, Wittenberg and Elmhurst). The one big thing going in their favor was a season sweep of Colorado College prior to then adding another victory during the conference tournament. The Tigers, at that point, were 28-8 and had a number of wins against quality out-of-region programs. The West RAC had Southwestern ahead of Colorado College in their rankings prior to the conference tournament with those head-to-head wins obviously being a factor. When Southwestern, once again, beat the Tigers, it sealed the final ordering of the West RAC regionally rankings, or so we thought.

Going into selection day, the Southwestern program felt pretty good about their chances. The Northwestern Conference had thrown a bit of a wrench into the process as they had a tie for their conference winner and the team that wasn’t regionally ranked (Whitworth) was going to get their automatic bid. Still, Southwestern was inline to get the 8^th spot in the West Regional and really the only question was how the NCAA was going to also get Colorado College in the tournament. In the end, this was answered by changing the regional rankings to move Colorado College ahead of Southwestern and not selecting my Pirates. The Tigers were moved ahead in the final rankings despite losing a third time to Southwestern.

Colorado College deserved to be selected. Based on the selection criteria, however, they shouldn’t have been considered until Southwestern was selected. The NCAA (and when I say NCAA, in my mind, I mean Jan Gentry) changed the rules on selection day. I came to find out later that the West RAC Chair had left her coaching position midseason so no one was really in charge of the committee. It opened the door for this type of manipulation, which I still consider a gross breach of NCAA rules and policies.

By now, you all know that when I see a problem I keep my mouth shut and just live with the consequences. Yeah, okay…I proceeded to send emails to every West RAC member for an explanation on what happened. How did the rankings change based on another Colorado College loss to Southwestern. In the two responses I received back from the West RAC members, I was told to check with Jan Gentry. This was my introduction to Ms. Gentry. I then wrote an email to Ms. Gentry asking for a clarification and an apology to the Southwestern volleyball program with assurances that this breach in NCAA rules could never happen to another team. I found out later through a Southwestern official that Ms. Gentry instructed the school to get their parents under control and to specifically sanction me in some way. I guess this was her apology. I heard that Southwestern simply responded by asking if I had been rude in the email. I hadn’t. If I had been incorrect in anything I had written. I hadn’t. At this point the school’s response was that there was nothing they could do if I was being truthful and respectful. So, yeah, I’ve never really liked Jan Gentry.

What I’ve pieced together over the years was that the NCAA felt that Colorado College deserved to make the tournament, which they did. They also were not taking 9 teams from the West Region, which would have meant an additional trip. So, outside of the West RAC, they manipulated the data to make Colorado College and Southwestern tie in the primary criteria and then decided that the Tigers did better in the secondary criteria. Why this wasn’t done in prior rankings was left unexplained.

I’m honestly proud of myself that I haven’t made this website a vendetta against Jan Gentry. Yes, I certainly have my villains and I’m certainly happy that one is going away but I’m not naïve enough to think there won’t be others.

With 6+ years to reflect on the Southwestern snub of 2014, I find it interesting to look back at it with unbiased eyes and with the knowledge I’ve picked up since that time. If you’ve read my articles about regional rankings and selection then you know I now believe it’s a mistake to use head-to-head (or other small differences in criteria) to move one team higher over another if that second team is in a better position to be nationally selected. 2014 Southwestern and Colorado College were prime examples of this. The 2021 version of me would have probably advocated exactly what Jan Gentry ultimately did for the betterment of the West Region. What is inexcusable, however, is waiting until the last regional ranking when you had already defined expectations. So, yes, I’ve got more perspective now and the pain/heartbreak has lessened somewhat but its memory still drives me each year to ensure the selection criteria is used properly and the selection committee follows their own rules. Because of that, I guess, I’ll end this with saying “thank you” to Jan Gentry. Heck, I’ll even apologize but I will require a proper one from her first.