THURSTON – Blake Sentman is headed to Thurston High School to both serve as a mentor and be mentored.
The 27-year-old from Cottage Grove has been named girls basketball coach for the Colts. He will also serve as offensive coordinator in football under longtime head coach Justin Starck.
Sentman starred in both basketball and football at Cottage Grove High School and went on to compete in both sports in college before beginning a career coaching both sports.
“I have a passion for mentoring athletes and kids and building cultures,” Sentman said. “When I heard about the basketball job at Thurston, I got passionate about rallying the girls together and finding out what kind of athletes we have to build trust with the players and coaching staff to change the culture. They deserve great opportunities and the excitement of that got me interested.
“In football, Justin has been someone I have looked up to as a head coach for my whole career and I have dreams of being a head coach someday, so he is the perfect mentor in the way that he structures his team and runs his program,” Sentman said. “So that intrigued me, to not only coach the girls basketball program, but to be able to impact boys in the school as well and learn from Justin.”
Sentman graduated from Cottage Grove in 2016 after helping the Lions reach the Class 4A state final in football as a senior. He was the starting quarterback and Sky-Em League offensive player of the year who was mentored by assistant coach Marty Johnson, the longtime Sheldon head coach.
“I still talk to Marty every week, he changed my life,” Sentman said. “I know the impact he and that great staff had on me in high school and they really connected with me.”
Sentman was also an all-state selection in basketball at CGHS and played a season at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho. He returned home that year to watch his former teammates at Cottage Grove defeat Marshfield for the state football title and decided to switch from basketball to football in college.
He transferred to the University of Montana Western and played three years, starting out at quarterback before becoming a starter as a slot receiver. He had 85 catches for 843 yards and three touchdowns for the Bulldogs.
After graduating in 2022, he went to Gold Beach and began his high school coaching career as offensive coordinator for the Panthers as they reached the Class 2A quarterfinals.
Sentman has spent the past two years at Marshfield as offensive coordinator and helped the Pirates reach the Class 4A semifinals last year. He has also run the strength and conditioning program for the girls basketball program while serving as middle school boys basketball coach and working with the West Coast Swish travel program.
Sentman is a PE and health teacher at Marshfield and will be seeking a similar job in the area when he heads over to Thurston in early June.
Thurston girls basketball went 10-14 last year, including a 4-8 record in the Midwestern League. The Colts have not had a winning record since 2020.
“This is a great move for me early in my career as I still have family in the Willamette Valley,” Sentman said. “In terms of career growth, it is an amazing opportunity to help out the girls basketball team and in football, coach in a program that has been established and learn from one of the best coaches in the state.”
