In the 20 years I have covered UConn Women's Basketball, I have had the pleasure of covering so many wonderful young ladies who by the time they've left Storrs, have become so successful on and off the court. Case and point, Renee Montgomery. By the time she was done at UConn, the Huskies started a run of unprecedented success that continues today.
Renee was a two sport Athlete at South Charleston High School. Soccer and hoops...In her time on the hardwood, every year she was a captain where her teams had great success with four straight 20 win seasons, a three time selection to the West Virginia State All Tournament Team. She broke the State Tournament single game steals record with nine in 2003. With Teammate, Alexis Hornbuckle, the duo led their team to three straight AAA State Titles...Renee, a year younger took the team to another appearance in her senior year in which Renee was named a 2005 McDonald's All American.
Next stop for Renee was Storrs and a stint playing for Geno Auriemma and Chris Dailey....And like many before and after her, she was thrown right into the fire..Starting 35 of 37 games in the 2005-06' season...The Freshman Class included Talented Wing Kalana Greene. Renee Tied the freshman assist record with 132...while averaging 9 points per game and notching double figure scoring in 15 games. She was Named the Big East Freshman of the Year by the league....A few highlights, a then career high 26 in a win at Louisville and double figures in 8 of her last 11 games that season...Including 13 in the electrifying Sweet 16 win over Georgia and added 15 in the gut wrenching OT loss to Duke in the Elite 8, both in Bridgeport...
Rutgers was the Conference Arch Rival in her time at UConn...RU won the Regular Season Crown in 2006, but the Huskies won the Tournament....The roles reversed in 2007 as the Huskies took the Regular Season Title, only to fall to RU in the Title Game...With the additions of Center, and National HS POY Tina Charles and Kaili McLaren, the Huskies were poised to again go deep in the NCAA's. Renee scored 20+ in four games...26 against Purdue early in the season at Gampel..But perhaps the highlight of that season was a 72-71 in at #7 LSU...Where Montgomery made a tie breaking three with 6.7 second left to take the lead. Porsha Phillips hit a top of the key jumper as time expired for LSU, but a foot on the line made it a two and not a three to tie...Renee made 5 three's and finished with the first of back to back 20 point games....The Bayou Bengals would get the better of the Huskies in the Elite 8 in Fresno...29 double figure games, led the team with 13 points per game and 163 assists, second most for a Sophomore at UConn. First Team All Big East and an honorable mention AP All American. That Summer she led USA Basketball's U-20 Team to a Gold at the FIBA U20 Championship for Women in Mexico....
The Huskies were slowly getting a stacked roster...Montgomery and Greene, then Charles and in the 2007-08 season, the arrival of Maya Moore, consensus National HS Player of the Year. And the term "pick your poison" was again back on the menu in Storrs...With Charles ever dangerous in the post, the aggressiveness of Greene on the wing and the arrival of Moore who could score from anywhere, it made Montgomery's job at the point a little easier. After an impressive run by UConn in St Thomas where they thumped Stanford and Duke, the Huskies dealt with the adversity of Greene tearing an ACL...Senior Shooting Guard Mel Thomas suffering the same fate in a January win at Syracuse. Meaning a lot was asked of the Montgomery, Charles, Moore trio. Renee averaged 14ppg, dished out 147 assists, while making a then career high 70 three pointers in winning both the Big East Regular Season and Tournament Titles...29 double figure games, 7 of 20+ and a career high 27 in a over Cincinnati....Rutgers stood in the way of UConn in the Elite 8 in Greensboro. Renee helped close out the come from behind win going 6-6 from the line late and for her Senior Teammates, the long awaited trip to a Final Four. The first of what is now 12 straight...But Candice Wiggins and Stanford denied UConn a matchup with Tennessee for the National Championship....The Lady Vols would their second straight and final title for the legendary Pat Summitt. Montgomery a 2008 State Farm First Team All American, 3rd Team AP All American and First Team All Big East Selection...
Greene healthy, two more talented freshman arrive in Tiffany Hayes and Caroline Doty and the Huskies are the Preseason #1. Renee Montgomery sends out an early notice with a career night...30 points and a career high 13 assists which tied the school single game record in a 106-78 pasting of #4 Oklahoma....25 points and 8 assists against Florida St in Cancun before Christmas...21 in a home win vs LSU..21 more at #2 North Carolina where balance led to a 30 point rout of the Tar Heels. The Huskies breeze thru the Big East Regular Season and Tournament untouched...Then In the NCAA's she and the team took their games up a notch further...19p 7a vs Vermont, 25p 5a vs Florida (10 threes in 1st two rounds) 13p 3a vs Cal and 22p 4a vs Arizona State to get UConn to a second straight Final Four....Stanford wouldn't stop them in St Louis...Renee 26p 6a in the Final Four win and then added 18p 4a on a night Tina Charles took center stage as the Huskies routed Louisville in the Championship Game where Charles was named MOP....UConn's third perfect season at 39-0...Untested and unfazed. Renee earning Unanimous All Big East First Team, The Big East Sportsmanship Award, Nancy Leiberman Award as the Nation's Top Point Guard, and Unanimous All American Honors..In fact on Pink Day on February 15th in the Gampel Finale, Renee Montgomery became the first active member to join the of the Huskies of Honor. Which has now become tradition if a Senior has been named WBCA All American prior to their senior year...
A career high 644 points (16.5pg) 199 assists (632 total) and 99 of her 254 made threes in her senior year...1990 career points (13th) in 150 games, which at the time she left was the school record. her 632 assists is 4th all time, 272 steals is 9th just behind my broadcast partner, Debbie Fiske (275) and she's 8th on the All Time 3 pointers made list at 254...
The Minnesota Lynx made her the 4th overall pick in the 2009 WNBA Draft...Where she's played for the Lynx twice, a stop in CT with the Sun, a year with Seattle and now with the Atlanta Dream...And she's played for 7 different clubs in Israel, Russia and Australia...She's won a pair on WNBA Titles with Maya Moore in Minnesota in 20-15 and 17' was an All Star in 2011 and won the League's Sixth Woman Award in 2012 as a Memember of the Sun.....In her career, she's averaged 10pts and 3apg...
Today, Renee resides in Atlanta and will take the 2020 off as she, and other WNBA Players are doing their part in the "Black Lives Matter" Movement...She's doing it in a Very Positive and Peaceful way...you can follow her on twitter @itsreneem_ to see what she's doing....And in the off season, she's been involved as an analyst on ESPN with Women's College Basketball and NBA TV ...She even sat courtside with us in January when the 2009-10 Teams were honored at the exhibition with the USWNT...That was fun !!
The Point Guard who set the tone for 12 straight Final Fours...and a perfect 2008-09' season. Two Time All American Renee Montgomery....A UConn Legend