George Montgomery

George Montgomery was born George Carter Montgomery on October 11, 1881, in Adair County, Kentucky, to Nannie McFerren Epperson and Joel Quitman Montgomery. His family moved to Liberty in 1894. He entered Kentucky University, now Transylvania University, in January 1899, playing football, basketball, and baseball there.

Known as “Rusty,” Montgomery was a forward on Kentucky’s first official basketball team in 1902–03. Organized by physical education director W. W. H. Mustaine, the team began modestly: its players collected $3 to buy a basketball and supplied their own uniforms and shoes. Montgomery’s place in that original group connects him to the beginnings of Kentucky’s basketball tradition.

Kentucky’s inaugural season lasted just three games. After losing its opener to Georgetown College, the team earned the program’s first victory on February 18, 1903, defeating Lexington YMCA, 11–10. A loss to Kentucky University followed, leaving Kentucky with a 1–2 record. That narrow YMCA victory became the first milestone in a history that would eventually include national championships and generations of celebrated players.

Montgomery’s athletic involvement extended beyond his lone listed Kentucky basketball season. He played football in 1904 and 1905 and baseball from 1903 through 1906, captaining the baseball team in 1905. His campus activities included Pi Kappa Alpha, Tau Beta Pi, and Lamp and Cross, along with playing trombone and cornet in the cadet band and college orchestra. He earned a science degree from Kentucky University in 1903 and a mechanical engineering degree from the institution now known as the University of Kentucky in 1906.

Montgomery married Hazel Thornton in 1910 and pursued an engineering career with the American Creosoting Company before becoming a Chicago representative for Long-Bell Lumber Company. He died suddenly in Oregon in late January 1951 and was buried in Glenwood Cemetery in Liberty on February 4.