Photo | @b_mont10
Kentucky signee E.J. Montgomery surprised everyone when he committed to Kentucky earlier this month, giving John Calipari another elite recruiting class and title contending team next season.
Montgomery, a 6-foot-11 power forward from Marietta, GA., already has a few things working in his favor. Basketball runs all throughout his family and it’s in his blood.
Both of his parents played basketball at North Carolina Central and coached at Indian River State College. He also has two sisters that played college basketball. His oldest sister, Brittni, played at Central Florida; and sister, Brandy, was a standout guard at Auburn.
Brandy finished her Auburn career with 1,644 points, seventh most in program history. She concluded her career on The Plains in 2017 and is now currently playing professionally in the Swedish league for the Visby Ladies.
Montgomery signed his letter of intent to attend Kentucky last week and Brandy, wearing a UK shirt, was able to be there to share a special moment with her brother.
“I was honestly happy for my brother and his special moment,” Brandy Montgomery said. “I proudly put on my blue UK shirt. I actually thought it looked kind of cute on me,” she said with a laugh.
There’s no one better to break down Montgomery’s game and give him advice than Brandy, who spent four years in the Southeastern Conference. Early in her career at Auburn, she had a key role with the Tigers. She averaged double figures every season and led the team in scoring during her sophomore and junior seasons.
“Heading to college I have already told him that he must work hard, stay focused and stay in the gym. No off days. If E.J. continues to work hard, he can be as good as he wants to be.”
Media speculation and predictions had Montgomery destined to choose Duke, not Kentucky. Calipari had an in-home visit with him the first weekend of the spring recruiting period and he applied the finishing touches. The following Monday, Montgomery posted “I’m rocking Kentucky blue” to his social media accounts, lyrics from the song ‘Scholarships’ by Drake and Future.
As far as advice during the recruiting process, Brandy kept things simple with him and just told him that he would get a certain feeling when he knew where he’s supposed to be. On the morning of April 9th, that feeling was Kentucky.
A five-star forward and McDonald’s All-American, Montgomery is just scratching the surface of how good he can be. In the final 247Sports player rankings, Montgomery passed high school phenom and Duke signee, Zion Williamson as the top power forward in the 2018 class. His versatile skillset is the biggest reason why.
“E.J. is an all-around player,” said Brandy. “With his size, athleticism, court vision, ball handling, passing abilities, and shot blocking, he is able to play multiple positions, and also be a threat on both ends of the court.”
Montgomery can use his size to score over people in the post and his quickness to blow by slower defenders. He’s the perfect example of Calipari’s positionless basketball approach. He has also improved his three-point shooting with the help of his sister, who finished third all-time in career three-pointers made at Auburn.
“He will be a match-up problem because of his size and diversity. He can score in multiple ways. With him being able to handle the ball, he can take bigger defenders off the bounce, and his size will bother smaller defenders. He can get to the basket and he can shoot. He has improved his three-point shooting this year, which I helped him with.”
Those skills will only improve because he will refuse to settle when he gets to Lexington. His high school coach, Larry Thompson, spoke with Go Big Blue Country after Montgomery’s commitment and he praised his work ethic, something his sister reaffirmed.
“He has a good work ethic. He is learning to push himself past his limits. Kentucky fans can expect an energized and fun player to watch, especially as his game continues to grow.”
Montgomery (6-foot-11) may have a significant size advantage on Brandy (5-foot-10), but with a few rule changes, she thinks she can still take him on the court.
“If we play one on one and the rules are that he can’t block my shot, dunk on me, or post me up, I have a chance of winning.”
If you want to follow Brandy Montgomery on Instagram now that she is a member of the BBN, you can do so @b_mont10
