UGA Lineup
Demary, Jr SO 9.9 3.8 2.5
Cain SO 7.1 2.4 0.7
Montgomery SO 13.2 3.5 2.0
Melendez SR 9.5 4.2 0.8
James SO 4.3 2.6 0.5
Newell FR
Anselem-Ibe GR 2.6 2.1 0.3
Out
Abdur-Rahim - Providence
DeLoach - Loyola (Chicago)
Hill
Jordan
Moncrieffe
4-20 Updates:
Commit š š¶ š !!!
Mount Saint Maryās transfer and MAAC Rookie of The Year De'Shayne Montgomery has committed to Georgia.
The 6ā4ā guard appeared in 32 games, averaging 13.2 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.7 steals. Montgomery shot 58% from 2, and 41% from 3 (28/68).
Dasher UGA Sports: Bulldogs add De'Shayne Montgomery
https://uga.rivals.com/news/bulldogs-add-de-shayne-montgomery
Dasher UGA Sports: Behind the Scenes: Why De'Shayne Montgomery transferred to Georgia
āI just really like the school. I saw whole different types of people. Itās very diverse, and that really stood out to me,ā Montgomery said. āItās like a family type of environment. Even though there are so many people and staff, it feels like one big family. I feel like they have my back.ā
uga.rivals.com
Sean Paul CBS: The Bulldogs make a good add. Athletic guard with scoring ability from all three levels. Georgia has a trio of sophomore guards who could have big seasons ā DeShayne Montgomery, Blue Cain and Silas Demary.
Fredericksburg News: DeāShayne Montgomery is a star for Mount St. Maryās
After a year at Hargrave Military Academy, the true freshman is breaking out in the MAAC.
āWhen Tommy Messinger first saw him, he knew he had to have him. The 6-foot-4-inch wing playing for SOH Elite at an Under Armour event in Atlanta made an immediate impression on the then-Hargrave Military Academy Head Coach.
āHe banged a 3, dunked on somebody, then blocked three consecutive shots, and I was like āWho the heck is this kid,āā Messinger said. āIt wasnāt in the book.ā
After the game, he did some digging, and he learned that the player was DeāShayne Montgomery.
A little over a year later, the unheralded Floridian is now starring as a true freshman for Dan Engelstad at Mount St. Maryās. In an 80-48 win over Siena, Montgomery scored 27 points, the most by a Mountaineers freshman since Shivaughn Wiggins scored 28 against FDU on March 2, 2013.
āHe had a pop to his game,ā Engelstad, who was also at that event in Atlanta, said, āWe donāt have anybody that can do some of the things he can do. You saw him play with spirit, and he had this way of competing.ā
Montgomeryās talent rarely goes unnoticed, but playing AAU ball off the circuit and high school ball for a school that didnāt do a good job of recording games did not do him any favors. In fact, that tournament in Atlanta was Montgomeryās first with SOH Elite, and it came after his high school graduation.
His high school career with Somerset Prep in Fort Lauderdale was very successful, as he scored 19 points per game in his senior year to go along with six rebounds, five assists, three steals, and two blocks, but there wasnāt much interest. That all changed when he first suited up for SOH Elite in July of 2022.
Montgomery, who grew up playing soccer thanks to the German influence of his mother, didnāt take to basketball until ninth grade. He credits a neighbor as the one who introduced him to the game.
āI met this one kid who moved on my street and I started playing basketball with him outside, and ever since then, I fell in love with basketball,ā he said.
After attending a summer camp run by Ralph Mata, the head of the SOH Elite program, Montgomery went back to his stomping grounds to hone his craft. By his junior year of high school, he was back on Mataās radar thanks to a mutual friend.
In his senior year ā still with no offers ā Montgomeryās Somerset Prep team defeated Mataās Miami Country Day in the regional tournament, prompting an invite to join the SOH Elite program in the summer. From there, the offers started rolling in as coaches took notice.
āHis first week playing with us, he had three offers,ā Mata said. āHe was just never in front of the right people.ā
Among the āright peopleā was Engelstad, who was floored by Montgomeryās talent.
āHeās got a natural feel, but he does some things that you just canāt coach.ā he said. āHis ability to get into passing lanes, make plays in transition, and finish at the rim is unique.ā
āWe tried hard to get him to the Mount [for the 22-23 season],ā Engelstad added, but the Montgomery family believed that a post-graduate year would best serve DeāShayne.
āMy dad told me how I need to develop my game some more since I started so late,ā Montgomery said. āI donāt have to āwasteā a year of college eligibility.ā
Even with the heavy courtship of Messinger, Montgomery had his reservations about starting at Hargrave.
āI didnāt know anything about the school at all,ā he said. āAt first, I didnāt want to go because it was a military school.ā
āThereās a lot of uncertainty when you first get to Hargrave,ā Messenger said. āAbout finding your way personally, navigating the military structure, and being around more talented playersā
However, the same pitch that has been used for years by Hargrave coaches such as Kevin Keatts and A.W. Hamilton, that the school allows for players to develop with limited distraction, ended up bringing Montgomery to campus.
Montgomery believes that taking a post-grad year helped him develop in a way that a year in college wouldnāt, and will benefit him in the long run as he pursues his dream of playing basketball professionally. Thanks to individual workout sessions with Hargrave assistant Kasey Bryant, Montgomery improved his ball handling and shooting.
Bryant ran Montgomery through drills such as dribbling through cones, catch and shoots, shooting off screens and handoffs, and much more.
āAt Hargrave, they focus on you individually,ā Montgomery said, āIt helps you get better at what you need to do so you can take that extra step before college.ā
ā[Montgomery and I] would always go in and work out,ā Montgomeryās Hargrave teammate Kailon Nicholls, now at Duquesne, said. āThe coaches were always willing to sacrifice their time to work on whatever we needed to work on.ā
Nicholls was Montgomeryās workout partner, and throughout the year, he observed plenty of growth in his game thanks to his ability to soak in information.
āHeās not the type to kind of brush off what you tell him,ā Nicholls said. āHe was always willing to learn.ā
Montgomery continued to make positive impressions on his coaches. Engelstad stayed in contact with him, but at this point, he was far from the only coach interested.
āHe had a lot of high-major interest early on,ā Messinger said. āAnd a lot of [smaller] schools that came to watch us play didnāt want to waste their time on him when they heard who was interested.ā
However, the high-major interest began to fizzle out as the year went on. With many programs using the transfer portal instead of the prep ranks, Montgomery was never officially offered by any of the high-major programs.
This was excellent news for Engelstad, who had become even more enamored with bringing Montgomery to the program after seeing him succeed at Hargrave.
āIf you go to Hargrave, you love basketball,ā Engelstad said, āItās in the middle of nowhere, itās the limit of distraction, and itās a factory. Guys get better and theyāre pushed to get mentally stronger.ā
While Mount St. Maryās was never out of the picture, it became an increasingly larger part of the picture when the high-major interest went away.
āI worked hard to get him on an official visit,ā Engelstad said. āWe have something really great to offer at Mount St. Maryās, and we want to roll our sleeves up and fight against anybody.ā
Montgomery didnāt commit on his official visit to the Mount, but Engelstad still felt confident, and he was rewarded soon after. From the airport of another official visit, Montgomery called Engelstad and told him the good news.
āI thought there was no other coach that wanted to coach DeāShayne as much as I did,ā Engelstad said of his pursuit.
So far, it has paid massive dividends.
Through his first 12 college games, Montgomery is averaging 13.5 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, and thatās not even close to the most impressive part. Thanks to his soccer instincts and 6-foot-10 wingspan, heās the only freshman in Division I basketball with a block rate of 4% or higher, and a steal rate of 5% or higher.
Hargrave has a rich tradition, sending many coaches, including Kevin Keatts and A.W. Hamilton, to the next level. Even Messinger has used his success at Hargrave to get a college coaching job, working on Grant Billmeierās staff at NJIT. The program has sent 26 players to the NBA, and Montgomery is hoping to be the 27th.
His current coach absolutely thinks he can get there.
āHe has a future in the highest level of basketball,ā he said.ā
https://www.midmajormadness.com/2023/12/26/23993808/deshayne-montgomery-is-a-star-for-mount-st-marys
SB Nation: A hoop got Mount's De'Shayne Montgomery hooked five years ago, and now he's a budding star
āDuring his freshman year of high school in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, DeāShayne Montgomery received a knock on his door that changed the rest of his life.
One of his best friends, Jaiden Miller, had just moved onto the street and had a basketball hoop in his driveway, and he was looking for people to come over and play.
Up until then, basketball had pretty much been a foreign subject for Montgomery, who is now a promising freshman guard at Mount St. Maryās.
He grew up in south Florida playing and dreaming of a future in soccer. There is German blood on his motherās side of the family. So, he visualized himself playing and scoring goals in that storied soccer countryās top league, Bundesliga.
But after a summer of playing basketball with Miller and other friends, Montgomeryās priorities started to change and his improbable journey to tiny Emmitsburg, Maryland, and Mount St. Maryās began.
āNow I am trying to play basketball the rest of my life,ā he said this week in a phone interview with the News-Post.
During his freshman and sophomore seasons at Piper High School, Montgomery said he barely got onto the court during games because he was āso terrible.ā
But then he transferred to Somerset Prep at North Lauderdale. His game started to pick up when he was a junior and then took off during his senior season when he averaged 19 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals.
By the time he hit the Under Armour showcase circuit the summer following his high school graduation, the tall, long and athletic Montgomery (6-foot-4, 190 pounds) had transformed from a complete novice to a Division I college prospect within the span of four years.
Mount St. Maryās basketball coach Dan Engelstad liked him enough that he handed Montgomery his first full scholarship offer. Except Montgomery turned it down. He and his family were not sure he was ready for Division I basketball yet. They told Engelstad that DeāShayne needed more time to develop as a person and a player.
āAnytime you donāt get the commitment early, you have to look at everything thatās out there,ā Engelstad said. āWe recruited [DeāShayne]. We recruited a lot of other guys, too. We had to go out and do what was best for our roster.ā
Did Montgomery feel like he was taking a risk by turning down the Mount?
āYeah,ā he said. ā... But sometimes you have to roll the dice.ā
Montgomery enrolled at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Virginia. He got used to the cold winters and the strict lifestyle at the school. And he excelled on the basketball court, helping the Tigers finish 44-2.
Montgomery averaged 16 points, 6 rebounds, three assists and two steals for Hargrave and earned honorable mention All-American honors.
āIt shaped me as a basketball player and a person,ā Montgomery said of his one year at the military academy.
Bigger colleges began to express interest. But Engelstad never abandoned his pursuit.
āWhen it got later and we found out DeāShayne was still available and we had a chance at it, I was extremely encouraged, excited,ā Engelstad said. āWe tried to do everything we could to get him here because he is a special talent.ā
Montgomery has yet to start a game for the Mountaineers. But heās been a valuable contributor off the bench, playing roughly 25 minutes per game. He leads the team with 30 steals, is tied for the team lead with 11 blocks and is second on the team in scoring at 13.5 points per game.
āYou get the ball in space with him, and itās over,ā Engelstad said of Montgomeryās attacking mindset. āHeās one of the best finishers in transition I have ever coached.ā
Montgomery made his college debut on a big stage in College Park against Maryland. He provided a spark for the team in what became a 68-53 loss to the Terps, contributing eight points and two steals in 18 minutes off the bench.
He said he felt very nervous at first in a big arena against a Power Five conference opponent. But Montgomery gradually settled down as he and the team started to play better.
Eleven days later, he scored 17 points in 27 minutes at Capital One Arena in D.C. against Georgetown, and later scored a season-high 27 points in 25 minutes of a Dec. 3 home game against Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) rival Siena.
In the 10 games the Mountaineers (5-8) have played since the 83-72 loss at Georgetown, Montgomery has reached double figures in scoring in eight.
āI believe in DeāShayneās talent,ā Engelstad said. āI knew what he was capable of doing. I knew DeāShayne was going to have a really good year. ... I think the guy is just getting better and better.
āThe more I got a chance to learn about him and his family, the more I liked. It was the most excited Iāve been when I got a commitment from a young man. It took a year and a half.ā
https://www.fredericknewspost.com/s...cle_6773e020-4b7e-5b4a-b0b5-5d6442e9031b.html
Demary, Jr SO 9.9 3.8 2.5
Cain SO 7.1 2.4 0.7
Montgomery SO 13.2 3.5 2.0
Melendez SR 9.5 4.2 0.8
James SO 4.3 2.6 0.5
Newell FR
Anselem-Ibe GR 2.6 2.1 0.3
Out
Abdur-Rahim - Providence
DeLoach - Loyola (Chicago)
Hill
Jordan
Moncrieffe
4-20 Updates:
Commit š š¶ š !!!
Mount Saint Maryās transfer and MAAC Rookie of The Year De'Shayne Montgomery has committed to Georgia.
The 6ā4ā guard appeared in 32 games, averaging 13.2 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.7 steals. Montgomery shot 58% from 2, and 41% from 3 (28/68).
Dasher UGA Sports: Bulldogs add De'Shayne Montgomery
https://uga.rivals.com/news/bulldogs-add-de-shayne-montgomery
Dasher UGA Sports: Behind the Scenes: Why De'Shayne Montgomery transferred to Georgia
āI just really like the school. I saw whole different types of people. Itās very diverse, and that really stood out to me,ā Montgomery said. āItās like a family type of environment. Even though there are so many people and staff, it feels like one big family. I feel like they have my back.ā
UGASports - Behind the Scenes: Why De'Shayne Montgomery transferred to Georgia
Inside, UGASports caught up with new Bulldog De'Shayne Montgomery to take about his decision to come to Georgia.
uga.rivals.com
Sean Paul CBS: The Bulldogs make a good add. Athletic guard with scoring ability from all three levels. Georgia has a trio of sophomore guards who could have big seasons ā DeShayne Montgomery, Blue Cain and Silas Demary.
Fredericksburg News: DeāShayne Montgomery is a star for Mount St. Maryās
After a year at Hargrave Military Academy, the true freshman is breaking out in the MAAC.
āWhen Tommy Messinger first saw him, he knew he had to have him. The 6-foot-4-inch wing playing for SOH Elite at an Under Armour event in Atlanta made an immediate impression on the then-Hargrave Military Academy Head Coach.
āHe banged a 3, dunked on somebody, then blocked three consecutive shots, and I was like āWho the heck is this kid,āā Messinger said. āIt wasnāt in the book.ā
After the game, he did some digging, and he learned that the player was DeāShayne Montgomery.
A little over a year later, the unheralded Floridian is now starring as a true freshman for Dan Engelstad at Mount St. Maryās. In an 80-48 win over Siena, Montgomery scored 27 points, the most by a Mountaineers freshman since Shivaughn Wiggins scored 28 against FDU on March 2, 2013.
āHe had a pop to his game,ā Engelstad, who was also at that event in Atlanta, said, āWe donāt have anybody that can do some of the things he can do. You saw him play with spirit, and he had this way of competing.ā
Montgomeryās talent rarely goes unnoticed, but playing AAU ball off the circuit and high school ball for a school that didnāt do a good job of recording games did not do him any favors. In fact, that tournament in Atlanta was Montgomeryās first with SOH Elite, and it came after his high school graduation.
His high school career with Somerset Prep in Fort Lauderdale was very successful, as he scored 19 points per game in his senior year to go along with six rebounds, five assists, three steals, and two blocks, but there wasnāt much interest. That all changed when he first suited up for SOH Elite in July of 2022.
Montgomery, who grew up playing soccer thanks to the German influence of his mother, didnāt take to basketball until ninth grade. He credits a neighbor as the one who introduced him to the game.
āI met this one kid who moved on my street and I started playing basketball with him outside, and ever since then, I fell in love with basketball,ā he said.
After attending a summer camp run by Ralph Mata, the head of the SOH Elite program, Montgomery went back to his stomping grounds to hone his craft. By his junior year of high school, he was back on Mataās radar thanks to a mutual friend.
In his senior year ā still with no offers ā Montgomeryās Somerset Prep team defeated Mataās Miami Country Day in the regional tournament, prompting an invite to join the SOH Elite program in the summer. From there, the offers started rolling in as coaches took notice.
āHis first week playing with us, he had three offers,ā Mata said. āHe was just never in front of the right people.ā
Among the āright peopleā was Engelstad, who was floored by Montgomeryās talent.
āHeās got a natural feel, but he does some things that you just canāt coach.ā he said. āHis ability to get into passing lanes, make plays in transition, and finish at the rim is unique.ā
āWe tried hard to get him to the Mount [for the 22-23 season],ā Engelstad added, but the Montgomery family believed that a post-graduate year would best serve DeāShayne.
āMy dad told me how I need to develop my game some more since I started so late,ā Montgomery said. āI donāt have to āwasteā a year of college eligibility.ā
Even with the heavy courtship of Messinger, Montgomery had his reservations about starting at Hargrave.
āI didnāt know anything about the school at all,ā he said. āAt first, I didnāt want to go because it was a military school.ā
āThereās a lot of uncertainty when you first get to Hargrave,ā Messenger said. āAbout finding your way personally, navigating the military structure, and being around more talented playersā
However, the same pitch that has been used for years by Hargrave coaches such as Kevin Keatts and A.W. Hamilton, that the school allows for players to develop with limited distraction, ended up bringing Montgomery to campus.
Montgomery believes that taking a post-grad year helped him develop in a way that a year in college wouldnāt, and will benefit him in the long run as he pursues his dream of playing basketball professionally. Thanks to individual workout sessions with Hargrave assistant Kasey Bryant, Montgomery improved his ball handling and shooting.
Bryant ran Montgomery through drills such as dribbling through cones, catch and shoots, shooting off screens and handoffs, and much more.
āAt Hargrave, they focus on you individually,ā Montgomery said, āIt helps you get better at what you need to do so you can take that extra step before college.ā
ā[Montgomery and I] would always go in and work out,ā Montgomeryās Hargrave teammate Kailon Nicholls, now at Duquesne, said. āThe coaches were always willing to sacrifice their time to work on whatever we needed to work on.ā
Nicholls was Montgomeryās workout partner, and throughout the year, he observed plenty of growth in his game thanks to his ability to soak in information.
āHeās not the type to kind of brush off what you tell him,ā Nicholls said. āHe was always willing to learn.ā
Montgomery continued to make positive impressions on his coaches. Engelstad stayed in contact with him, but at this point, he was far from the only coach interested.
āHe had a lot of high-major interest early on,ā Messinger said. āAnd a lot of [smaller] schools that came to watch us play didnāt want to waste their time on him when they heard who was interested.ā
However, the high-major interest began to fizzle out as the year went on. With many programs using the transfer portal instead of the prep ranks, Montgomery was never officially offered by any of the high-major programs.
This was excellent news for Engelstad, who had become even more enamored with bringing Montgomery to the program after seeing him succeed at Hargrave.
āIf you go to Hargrave, you love basketball,ā Engelstad said, āItās in the middle of nowhere, itās the limit of distraction, and itās a factory. Guys get better and theyāre pushed to get mentally stronger.ā
While Mount St. Maryās was never out of the picture, it became an increasingly larger part of the picture when the high-major interest went away.
āI worked hard to get him on an official visit,ā Engelstad said. āWe have something really great to offer at Mount St. Maryās, and we want to roll our sleeves up and fight against anybody.ā
Montgomery didnāt commit on his official visit to the Mount, but Engelstad still felt confident, and he was rewarded soon after. From the airport of another official visit, Montgomery called Engelstad and told him the good news.
āI thought there was no other coach that wanted to coach DeāShayne as much as I did,ā Engelstad said of his pursuit.
So far, it has paid massive dividends.
Through his first 12 college games, Montgomery is averaging 13.5 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, and thatās not even close to the most impressive part. Thanks to his soccer instincts and 6-foot-10 wingspan, heās the only freshman in Division I basketball with a block rate of 4% or higher, and a steal rate of 5% or higher.
Hargrave has a rich tradition, sending many coaches, including Kevin Keatts and A.W. Hamilton, to the next level. Even Messinger has used his success at Hargrave to get a college coaching job, working on Grant Billmeierās staff at NJIT. The program has sent 26 players to the NBA, and Montgomery is hoping to be the 27th.
His current coach absolutely thinks he can get there.
āHe has a future in the highest level of basketball,ā he said.ā
https://www.midmajormadness.com/2023/12/26/23993808/deshayne-montgomery-is-a-star-for-mount-st-marys
SB Nation: A hoop got Mount's De'Shayne Montgomery hooked five years ago, and now he's a budding star
āDuring his freshman year of high school in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, DeāShayne Montgomery received a knock on his door that changed the rest of his life.
One of his best friends, Jaiden Miller, had just moved onto the street and had a basketball hoop in his driveway, and he was looking for people to come over and play.
Up until then, basketball had pretty much been a foreign subject for Montgomery, who is now a promising freshman guard at Mount St. Maryās.
He grew up in south Florida playing and dreaming of a future in soccer. There is German blood on his motherās side of the family. So, he visualized himself playing and scoring goals in that storied soccer countryās top league, Bundesliga.
But after a summer of playing basketball with Miller and other friends, Montgomeryās priorities started to change and his improbable journey to tiny Emmitsburg, Maryland, and Mount St. Maryās began.
āNow I am trying to play basketball the rest of my life,ā he said this week in a phone interview with the News-Post.
During his freshman and sophomore seasons at Piper High School, Montgomery said he barely got onto the court during games because he was āso terrible.ā
But then he transferred to Somerset Prep at North Lauderdale. His game started to pick up when he was a junior and then took off during his senior season when he averaged 19 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals.
By the time he hit the Under Armour showcase circuit the summer following his high school graduation, the tall, long and athletic Montgomery (6-foot-4, 190 pounds) had transformed from a complete novice to a Division I college prospect within the span of four years.
Mount St. Maryās basketball coach Dan Engelstad liked him enough that he handed Montgomery his first full scholarship offer. Except Montgomery turned it down. He and his family were not sure he was ready for Division I basketball yet. They told Engelstad that DeāShayne needed more time to develop as a person and a player.
āAnytime you donāt get the commitment early, you have to look at everything thatās out there,ā Engelstad said. āWe recruited [DeāShayne]. We recruited a lot of other guys, too. We had to go out and do what was best for our roster.ā
Did Montgomery feel like he was taking a risk by turning down the Mount?
āYeah,ā he said. ā... But sometimes you have to roll the dice.ā
Montgomery enrolled at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Virginia. He got used to the cold winters and the strict lifestyle at the school. And he excelled on the basketball court, helping the Tigers finish 44-2.
Montgomery averaged 16 points, 6 rebounds, three assists and two steals for Hargrave and earned honorable mention All-American honors.
āIt shaped me as a basketball player and a person,ā Montgomery said of his one year at the military academy.
Bigger colleges began to express interest. But Engelstad never abandoned his pursuit.
āWhen it got later and we found out DeāShayne was still available and we had a chance at it, I was extremely encouraged, excited,ā Engelstad said. āWe tried to do everything we could to get him here because he is a special talent.ā
Montgomery has yet to start a game for the Mountaineers. But heās been a valuable contributor off the bench, playing roughly 25 minutes per game. He leads the team with 30 steals, is tied for the team lead with 11 blocks and is second on the team in scoring at 13.5 points per game.
āYou get the ball in space with him, and itās over,ā Engelstad said of Montgomeryās attacking mindset. āHeās one of the best finishers in transition I have ever coached.ā
Montgomery made his college debut on a big stage in College Park against Maryland. He provided a spark for the team in what became a 68-53 loss to the Terps, contributing eight points and two steals in 18 minutes off the bench.
He said he felt very nervous at first in a big arena against a Power Five conference opponent. But Montgomery gradually settled down as he and the team started to play better.
Eleven days later, he scored 17 points in 27 minutes at Capital One Arena in D.C. against Georgetown, and later scored a season-high 27 points in 25 minutes of a Dec. 3 home game against Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) rival Siena.
In the 10 games the Mountaineers (5-8) have played since the 83-72 loss at Georgetown, Montgomery has reached double figures in scoring in eight.
āI believe in DeāShayneās talent,ā Engelstad said. āI knew what he was capable of doing. I knew DeāShayne was going to have a really good year. ... I think the guy is just getting better and better.
āThe more I got a chance to learn about him and his family, the more I liked. It was the most excited Iāve been when I got a commitment from a young man. It took a year and a half.ā
https://www.fredericknewspost.com/s...cle_6773e020-4b7e-5b4a-b0b5-5d6442e9031b.html
