23 E.J. Montgomery

E.J. Montgomery was born Efrem Reynard Montgomery Jr. on September 12, 1999, in Fort Pierce, Florida. A member of a basketball family, he attended Montverde Academy before transferring to Wheeler High School in Marietta, Georgia. Montgomery averaged 25.6 points, 13.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists as a Wheeler senior, earning first-team all-state honors, Florida Player of the Year recognition and the Marietta Daily Journal/Cobb County Boys Basketball Player of the Year award. The McDonald’s All-American was rated among the nation’s leading prospects and chose Kentucky after emerging as one of the top power forwards in the 2018 recruiting class.

Montgomery appeared in all 37 games as a Kentucky freshman in 2018–19 and gradually earned a larger role, starting nine of the Wildcats’ final 11 games. His length, rebounding and shot-blocking strengthened a team that won 30 games and advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight. He recorded his first collegiate double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds against South Carolina and collected 11 rebounds in his NCAA Tournament debut against Abilene Christian.

As a sophomore, Montgomery developed into a full-time starter and posted career highs of 6.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game. His willingness to defend, pursue loose balls and do the less-visible work around the basket helped Kentucky win 17 of its final 20 games and capture the 2020 Southeastern Conference regular-season championship. The Wildcats’ postseason opportunity disappeared when the SEC and NCAA tournaments were canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Montgomery subsequently entered the NBA Draft after two seasons in Lexington.

Two performances particularly defined Montgomery’s sophomore season. He scored a career-high 25 points on 12-of-16 shooting against Fairleigh Dickinson as Kentucky earned its 600th victory at Rupp Arena. In the regular-season finale at Florida, his tip-in with 11 seconds remaining completed Kentucky’s comeback from an 18-point deficit and supplied the winning points in a 71–70 victory. Montgomery concluded his Kentucky career having averaged 4.8 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game.

Montgomery majored in community and leadership development at Kentucky. After going undrafted in 2020, he began a professional career that took him to Lithuania, Hungary and Japan before the Westchester Knicks selected him in the 2024 NBA G League Draft and traded his rights to the Birmingham Squadron. He later continued his career overseas with Nadim Souaid Academy in Lebanon and MKS Dąbrowa Górnicza in Poland.