It didn’t take long for Kal-El Gentles to stand out on Penn State Altoona’s basketball team, averaging 14 points per game on the way to being named 2024-2025 Newcomer of the Year in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference.
But after the season, Gentles was looking for an opportunity to prove himself against tougher competition and reconnected with 鶹Ƶ coach London Wilson, who had initially tried to recruit the Texas native out of high school.
“I was kind of iffy about it and not really thinking I wanted to go all the way to Washington,” Gentles said. “But then after I went to Pennsylvania, that opened up my eyes.”
Once Gentles found out Wilson was still interested in having him join the Yaks, the sophomore guard made the decision to go west.
“[Coach Wilson] gets his players to develop and not only on the court, but off the court,” he said. “He’s a very good mentor in my opinion and he’s probably the best coach I’ve ever had with building my capabilities on the court and making me understand the little things that are in the game.”
ABOVE: Sophomore guard Kal-El Gentles contests a shot by Blue Mountain Community College during a January 7 home game. TOP: Gentles handles the ball with the Yaks on offense during a January 17 game versus Treasure Valley Community College.
Through late January, Gentles has been showing off his well-rounded game for the Yaks, averaging more than 14 points per game while being one of the Northwest Athletic Conference’s most efficient shooters, making more than 60% of his shots. He’s also among the league’s top 25 in rebounds.
Off the court, Gentles is still adjusting to winters that are colder than anything he experienced growing up in Austin, Texas, but he’s fallen in love with variety of scenery he’s viewed during the team’s travels.
“A lot of people kind of take it for granted when you live out here and you don't really notice how beautiful the trees are, how beautiful the mountains are,” Gentles said. “Being from a place that we don't have those things — it's very flat land down in Texas — I think I’ve been able share with my teammates an appreciation that this area is beautiful.”
Gentles, who has established himself at one of the NWAC's most efficient offensive players during the 2025-26 season, slices through Treasure Valley's defense for a lay-up.
Despite his success on the basketball court, it wasn’t the first sport Gentles fell in love with. Playing quarterback was his early dream. During elementary school, however, his oldest brother was entering high school and getting serious about basketball.
“He was taking me to open runs and we were playing with older kids and that competitiveness got into me,” Gentles said. “It just took over really, and then my dad is super into basketball so when I moved with him in my elementary, middle school years we decided to kind of focus on basketball.”
As the second youngest of nine siblings, basketball also provided an avenue to grow closer with his brothers and sisters.
“I was kind of a quieter kid when I was growing up, but sports brought out this energy and excitement and joy in me,” Gentles said. “I saw them having fun, and it became fun for me. It also was my release point really, when I was going through a lot of internal issues.”
Gentles with the ball between two Linn-Benton defenders. The Yaks guard stood in the top 25 rebounders in the NWAC through late January.
At YVC and beyond, Gentles’ childhood experiences also are leading him toward a degree in human development that would enable him to pursue a career in child protective services.
Gentles recalled interactions that his own family had with child protective services and came away seeing an opportunity for him to change the negative experiences that happen all too often.
“I think what everybody worries about in lower income communities especially is they are trying to find a way to separate families,” he said. “And that’s not at all what the goal should be. The goal should be to protect kids and help families stay together.”
A couple of his favorite classes at YVC to date have been an entrepreneurship class taught by Kyle Ashley and a clay molding class taught by Rachel Dorn.
Gentles was looking for something different than drawing or painting to fulfill an art requirement when he saw Dorn’s clay class would fit in his schedule.
“I was actually sick this past week and she built me a whole list of things that would help me get back on track and she’s just very understanding, very welcoming,” he said.
Gentles gets past a Linn-Benton defender for a layup.
The entrepreneurship class, meanwhile, helped open Gentles’ eyes to the steps it takes to build a business or nonprofit, as he hopes to do in the future.
But first, Gentles has his sights on playing basketball at a four-year school and getting an opportunity to play professionally overseas.
“Being far from home has opened up my eyes to doing things for myself and being more independent,” he said. “Every day before practice Coach Wilson gives us a little bit of his speeches and talk to us about things that are happening in his life or around him. He’ll give us some insight on how he looks at and how other people might look at it and what we might take away in our own lives. I think that’s help me a lot in seeing other people’s perspectives.”
3 Things
What’s in your ultimate protein shake?
Favorite protein shake would include chocolate, peanut butter and banana. You can’t go wrong with those three together.
Other than your own sport, what Olympic sport would you love to compete in?
If I could compete in another sport in the Olympics, it would be snowboarding even though I’ve never tried it before😂
Favorite hobby off the court?
My favorite hobby outside of basketball has to be reading, specifically reading a crime mystery book.
Story by Dustin Wunderlich, director of community relations. Photos by Brandon Mendoza (AA-DTA '19), graphic designer/multimedia content producer, and Ross Courtney.