For the East Mississippi Community College football family, the offseason’s promise of renewal was shattered by sudden tragedy. Gentry Davis, a former linebacker at the college, passed away on February 6 at the age of 23.

EMCC Athletics shared the news on X, posting details about memorial services and honoring Davis as part of its football family.

“We are heartbroken to learn of the passing of former Lion, Gentry Davis. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, and his former teammates at EMCC & Miss College. Once a Lion, always a Lion. Arrangements for tomorrow’s services.”

Details surrounding Gentry Davis’ death have not been made public. Davis’ family will receive friends on Saturday, February 14, 2026, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Baldwin-Lee Funeral Home in Pearl, Mississippi. A Celebration of Life service will follow at 7:00 p.m.

People close to Davis described him as a hardworking, disciplined family man. He had a strong passion for fitness and spent much of his time in the gym to improve himself. Aside from his football career, Davis wanted to serve the community by becoming a police officer.

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Following his death, fans and friends of Davis took to the website of Dignity Memorial to post messages of remembrance. RaNyia Ruffia, whose cousin was friends with Davis, recalled how the latter would be outside her aunt’s apartment on Sundays to pick up her cousin and go to East Mississippi because Malachi didn’t have a car.

“Only a true friend would do something like that, and I’m so very grateful that my cousin got to have Gentry as an amazing friend to him,” she said. “I can’t stress enough how greatly my family talked about him. I pray that he has found his peace, and I pray that God guides his family in this time of despair,” she added.

East Mississippi Community College was featured in the first two seasons of the Netflix documentary series Last Chance U, which highlighted junior college football programs fighting for recognition and opportunity. In February 2025, the documentary came into disrepute after several players filed a lawsuit against EMCC, Netflix, NJCAA, and the production company, alleging that they “capitalized on the names, images, and likenesses of six former players without compensating them.”

The plaintiffs included players from the 2015 and 2016 seasons who said that they were asked to sign away their publicity rights at a time when college players didn’t have avenues like NIL to get paid. It is unclear whether Davis was one of the plaintiffs, a highly unlikely scenario since he played for EMCC at a much later stage.

Inside the life of the late Gentry Davis

Gentry Davis’s football journey was straightforward. He played at Richland High School and took snaps on both offense and defense. But his primary position was as a linebacker. His performances earned him recognition and accolades. That saw him being named Most Valuable Player in football for the Rankin County School District in 2021.

After graduating from Richland, he continued his football journey and education on scholarship at East Mississippi Community College. There, he helped the team win a state championship while once again graduating with honors. He was most recently studying at Mississippi College.

The EMCC post on X announcing the news is filled with remembrance comments from across the college. Dignity Memorial also has a 31-minute video that has a slideshow of pictures from Davis’ life.