SEC coach says EJ should follow PJ’s example and return to UK
When asked to appraise EJ Montgomery as an NBA prospect, Mississippi State Coach Ben Howland gave the Kentucky player a thumbs up.
“EJ Montgomery is going to be an NBA player,” Howland said Tuesday. “I don’t have any doubt about that.”
Howland suggested that Montgomery’s best course of action would be to follow the example of former UK player PJ Washington, who returned for a sophomore season and became a lottery pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. Montgomery would be wise to play for UK next season, his junior year, and thereby enhance his stock for the 2021 NBA Draft, the Mississippi State coach said.
Montgomery’s father said Wednesday that his son had not made a decision about returning to Kentucky next season or entering this year’s NBA Draft.
Efrem Montgomery did not embrace Howland’s reasoning that Kentucky’s offense next season could be more geared to EJ Montgomery, thus allowing him to showcase a wider range of skills. The elder Montgomery said he saw that reasoning as reflecting how UK’s offense this past season called for scoring from other players rather than being based on a deficiency in his son’s scoring ability.
“Just because he did other things to help his team win, and didn’t get to showcase his (offense), doesn’t mean he can’t do it,” Efrem Montgomery said. “Why come back and waste a whole other year when you can already do those things anyway?”
The elder Montgomery acknowledged that the coronavirus pandemic may mean players will not have the opportunity to showcase skills in the NBA Combine or in workouts for individual teams.
But, he said that the NBA should be familiar with his son’s ability given his workouts for seven teams as part of last year’s pre-draft process. Plus, UK games are televised, and it’s not unusual for NBA scouts to attend practices, he said.
Montgomery averaged 6.1 points and 5.4 rebounds in 2019-20. His father pointed out that Montgomery scored double-digit points in each of the three games he took 10 or more shots. And he scored 10 points in the home game against Georgia when he took six shots.
A moment later, the elder Montgomery chuckled as he recalled something UK Coach John Calipari likes to say. “Cal always says numbers don’t matter at Kentucky. Winning matters.”
Incidentally, EJ Montgomery had the winning tip-in in Kentucky’s 71-70 victory at Florida in what became the team’s final game.
During last year’s pre-draft process, a question about Montgomery’s on-court identity was raised.
Howland said that Montgomery had established a winning identity on the defensive end.
“You know what he is to me?” the Mississippi State coach said. “He’s Stacey Augmon, only he’s about 2 inches taller.”
Augmon was a four-year player for UNLV. In his junior season, the Runnin’ Rebels won the national championship. He was the first three-time winner of the National Association of Basketball Coaches Defensive Player of the Year award.
Of Montgomery, Howland said, “Defensively, he’s a freak because he can switch ‘one’ through ‘four.’ He’s exactly what (NBA teams) want on the defensive end of the floor.”
The UK player’s father said his son sent the NBA a request for an evaluation last week. As of Wednesday, no response had yet arrived. Howland said that the NBA would send evaluations to players late this week or early next week.
The evaluation can include a range of where a player may be drafted: lottery, middle first round, late first round, early second round, etc.
“Teams are asking what he’s going to do,” the elder Montgomery said. “That’s a good thing. That’s a plus.”
