Cortez Gent
From NCAA College Football Information & Resource
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Cortez Gent (born January 4, 1987 in Gainesville, Fla.) is a wide receiver for the Florida Atlantic University Owls in the NCAA college football tournament. The 6-foot-2 wideout out of the state of Florida was a revelation for the Owls in 2007 as he emerged to become one of Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year Rusty Smith's primary receiving targets. Despite not being one of the heralded players and the most recruited prospects in high school, Gent came out of the national radar after matching FAU's single season record in touchdown receptions while proving his consistency by scoring in eight of the Owls' 12 games in only his sophomore season.
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[edit] Personal Life
Cortez is the grandson of Bernadine Gent. Cortez's father, Bernadine Gent's youngest son, has been in and out of prison which is why he and his sister grew up in the care of Bernadine and Willie Gent. Willie passed away in September of 2007 and Cortez had to skip a game so he could be at the funeral. Shortly after his birth, Cortez's sister gave him a nickname---Snoop---after she saw the birthmark under his right eye which reminded him of a cartoon dog she saw on TV. Cortez grew up in Chiefland (population 1,993), a small town about 35 miles east of Gainesville, where he became a fan of the Florida Gators, rooting for the likes of receivers Ike Hilliard and Reidel Anthony. He also once went to The Swamp when he was in fifth grade to watch his alma mater Chiefland High beat Mayo in the Class 2A state title game. He majored in Criminal Justice at the Florida Atlantic University.
[edit] High School
Gent went to Chiefland High School in his hometown of Chiefland, Florida where he was a three-sport athlete, seeing action for the football, basketball and baseball teams. He even earned All-State while playing hoops as a junior while claiming All-State accolades in baseball during his sophomore and junior years. On the gridiron, Gent played under head coach Sam Holland where he emerged to become one of the most decorated players in the state while playing on both ends of the field as a wide receiver on offense and as defensive back on defense. His versatility also forced him to play at quarterback during some games because of injuries. During his junior season, when he ran the 40 in 4.6, Gent earned his first of back-to-back All-State selections. The following year, Gent received All-City, All-County, and All-Big Bend honors after helping the Indians to a 6-1 league record and earn a berth at the state playoffs. Although Chiefland would finish fourth in the District 4-1A Standings, Gent would still go on and bag the Gainesville Star 1A-3A Player of the Year honors and would nearly win the state player of the year as well, finishing only as a runner-up. He was also included in the Sunshine Preps Class 1A team as a second unit honoree.
[edit] College
Prior to his senior season, Gent attended The Insiders.com/MSL Football Combine held at the University of Florida along with the likes of C.J. Spiller and Geno Hayes. [1] Among the schools that showed interest in Scout.com's No. 57 recruit include Florida, Clemson and Florida State. However none of these universities offered him scholarships as they still await to see if he met Division I academic qualifications. Florida Atlantic took a chance on Gent and "stayed loyal" to him. Gent did eventually pass the ACT on December of 2004 and by February, became one of the 22 recruits to sign National Letters of intent with FAU.
[edit] 2005
Redshirted. He travelled with the Owls as part of the scout team, playing alongside quarterback Smith.
[edit] 2006
During the spring scrimmage, Gent helped the Offense win the first spring scrimmage with his four receptions for 36 yards. Gent made his collegiate debut and first career start at Clemson where he caught a pair of passes for 32 yards, including his longest for the season (21 yards) as the Owls succumbed to the 18th ranked Tigers, 6-54. He also saw action in losses at Kansas State, at Oklahoma State, and at South Carolina but was limited to a mere reception for a minus yards gain in that span. At Louisiana-Monroe, Gent won his first ever game, chipping in 3 receptions for 36 yards in the two-point victory. He saw limited action the rest of the year, even attempting a pass against Arkansas State, before finishing his rookie campaign with 6 catches for 66 yards in nine appearances.
[edit] 2007
In the annual spring game, Gent caught three passes for 14 yards to once again help the Offense win. In the season opener, Gent caught two passes for 21 yards and his first career TD in FAU's 27-14 win over Middle Tennessee State. After missing the Oklahoma State game due to a death in his family, Gent returned for the Minnesota game and helped the Owls escape with a three-point win with his first career 100-yard game (109 yards on four receptions). Also against the Gophers, he and teammate Jason Harmon teamed up to become the first Owl tandem to record 100+ yards in a single game. At North Texas, Gent caught four passes for 96 yards, including the go-ahead 74-yard score late in the fourth quarter of the 30-20 victory. At 14th ranked Kentucky, Gent caught five passes for 53 yards and a 20-yard touchdown while attempting another pass but failed to connect in the lopsided defeat to the Wildcats. Against 6th ranked South Florida, Gent came through with seven receptions for 61 yards and 1 TD but the Owls came up short, 23-35. Days later, Gent was named into the second team of Phil Steele's Mid-Season All-SBC selection.
At Louisiana-Lafayette, Gent caught the game-tying touchdown with six seconds left to force overtime before eventually finishing the game with five catches for 82 yards in the 39-32 win. In FAU's homecoming, Gent established a career high of 11 receptions for 142 yards but unfortunately Louisiana-Monroe played the spoiler's role, handing the Owls a three-point triple overtime defeat. He only had five receptions for 48 yards in another three-point decision won by the Owls against Arkansas State before tallying 118 yards on 6 catches in the loss to 14th ranked Florida. In the 55-23 thrashing of Florida International, he tallied his fourth career 100-yard game with 145 yards and a new career high of two scoring catches on four receptions. At Troy, Gent broke his personal high in receiving yards after recording 155 yards with 1 TD on 8 receptions in the six-point win over the Trojans to close out the regular season. In his and FAU's bowl game debut, Gent caught three passes for 52 yards as the Owls defeated Memphis in the New Orleans Bowl, 44-27. He ended the season as the team's leading receiver with 64 receptions (3rd in the SBC) for 1,082 yards (2nd in the Sun Belt) and nine touchdowns (2nd in the Sun Belt, ties school's single season record). Nationally, he ranked 19th in receiving yards per game and 57th in receptions per game. He punctuated his breakout year with a First Team selection in the All-Sun Belt team and was the lone FAU offensive player on Rivals.com's All-Sun Belt Offense selection.
[edit] 2008
Gent, who came just 104 yards shy of the single-season receiving mark, is poised for another explosive season for the Owls. In the annual spring game, Gent led all receivers with five catches for 96 yards but the Offense came up short, 37-38. He also received several preseason accolades as a first team All-Conference selection.
[edit] Career Stats
| Receiving | Rushing | Fumbles | ||||||||||
| Year | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Fum | Lst |
| 2006 | 6 | 66 | 11.0 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2007 | 64 | 1082 | 16.9 | 74 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
[edit] Achievements
[edit] 2008
- Blue Ribbon Magazine Preseason First Team All-Sun Belt
- Lindy's preseason First Team All-Sun Belt
- NationalChamps.net honorable mention preseason All-American
- NewEraScouting.com Preseason First Team All-Sun Belt
- Phil Steele Preseason First Team All-Sun Belt
[edit] 2007
- All-Sun Belt First Team
- CollegeFootballNews.com All-Sun Belt Team
- CollegeFootballNews.com's #27 Player in the Sun Belt
- CollegeFootballNews.com's #2 WR in the Sun Belt
- FAU's Most Improved Player
- Rivals.com All-Sun Belt Team
