Playing pickup horse in the backyard with her older brothers was the first challenge that pushed Madison Montgomery to be the swiss-army knife on offense she is today.
Although the junior forward for the Long Beach State women’s basketball team was only a couple years younger, her brothers teased her on the court by saying that “girls can’t play basketball.”
Most girls might be discouraged by this type of challenge, but not Maddy.
“It motivated me to prove them wrong,” Montgomery said.
Montgomery brings that same mentality to the 49ers. Off the court, Montgomery is cool and calm. On the court, she is a bit different.
Aside from 49ers head coach Jody Wynn, Montgomery is the most vocal member of the 49ers.
“She’s the hype-man on the team,” Wynn said. “She gets everyone motivated and energized, brings passion to the floor and is an integral part of the team.”
When Montgomery’s on the bench, she is the spark plug for the 49ers because of her carefree intensity.
“From the stands you’ll hear Maddy’s voice,” junior Anna Kim said. “Of course she’s the hype-man, she’s the loudest player on the team.”
Montgomery said she’s had this intensity since middle school, where she already knew she wanted to play Division I college basketball. She knew that if she surrounded herself with good people to help her develop, she would reach her dream.
“When I was younger I always looked at college basketball players as being Gods,” Montgomery said.
Fortunately for Montgomery, she always had a tenacity that helped her accomplish her goal.
“The harder I worked, the better I got, the more success I had,” she said. “I figured, ‘what’s going to stop me?’”
With her unique skill-set, Montgomery caused headaches for opposing defenses. Her ability to play down in the post and pull up from the top of the key were major reasons why Wynn originally recruited Montgomery out of Highlands Ranch High School.
“Maddy has beautiful footwork in the paint,” 49er coach Jody Wynn said. “But she can also step out and knock down the open three.”
Montgomery decided during her senior year of high school to play college ball for LBSU. Although the beach-friendly environment played a role, the 49ers’ motion offense is what really attracted Montgomery.
“We play free and not only create for ourselves but for our teammates,” Montgomery said. “[We have] the freedom to go set up a back screen for our teammates or you can attack and dish to a wide-open teammate.”
Wynn said that last season Montgomery started to cement her role as one of the team leaders. She played in every game and gained some valuable experience playing in the Big West tournament and in the 49ers WNIT game against the University of San Diego.
The game started to change pace for Montgomery. Now she is one of the 49ers’ most consistent threats on offense, averaging 8.2 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.
“When you get here as a freshman everything is going 1,000 miles per hour,” Montgomery said. “Once you’re here for a while, talk about the game-plan, watch films and get to see the game from a different perspective, everything slows down. With that comes confidence.”
Today, Montgomery is a better basketball player than her older brothers, she made a Division I team and is an integral part of the 49ers. But her goals don’t stop there.
Montgomery said, “I’m going to get better at the end of this season and into my senior year, so maybe I can further my career overseas.”