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Tracking the College Basketball Stars of the Future=====

ECU & C-USA Hoops Recruiting Report Saturday, May 24, 2003 By Thad Mumau Special Correspondent

Pirates get early start courting Clayton guard

©2003 Bonesville.net

East Carolina basketball coaches are trying to get a jump on their 2004 recruiting class as they have already offered a scholarship to one of the top juniors in North Carolina.

He’s Mack Montgomery, a 6-4 gifted all-around guard at Clayton High School. He averaged 18.1 points, 12.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists in leading the Comets to a 24-4 record, the Big Eight 3-A Conference regular-season and tournament championships and to the sectional semifinals of the state playoffs.

For his efforts, Montgomery was voted the league’s player of the year, while his coach, Denny Medlin, was named Big Eight coach of the year.

In Montgomery's case, the Pirates aren’t about to slip in the back door and grab an uncotested commitment from a virtual unknown, as big-name schools from coast to coast are very interested. They include Virginia, South Carolina and Stanford, with the list growing fast.

Virginia assistant Alex Sherard attended one of Clayton’s open gyms several weeks ago and a member of the Stanford staff flew 3,000 miles to watch another Comets open gym.

"Mack is an outstanding passer," Medlin said, "and he’s very unselfish. He is content to let his teammates score and only looks for his own shot when we really need points. We scored 100 points in one game last season, and he only had nine."

However, when called upon to produce, Montgomery delivers.

In the conference tourney semifinals, Montgomery threw in a season-high 31 points as Clayton defeated Wilson Fike. He followed up with 29 in the championship game victory over Wilson Hunt.

Montgomery scored 24 points and pulled down 15 rebounds in a road win over cross-county rival Smithfield-Selma and again snared 15 boards in a home win over the same team. In that one, he had 16 points, with six coming down the stretch in the fourth quarter and proving to be the margin of victory.

"Mack has passed up shots a player of his caliber should be taking," Medlin said. "That’s our only criticism — that he is too unselfish. We would like him to shoot a little more."

Montgomery is a rare breed in this day of day of players preoccupy themselves with thoughts about three-pointers and dunks. He feasts on those points that are available in between.

"He has a real good mid-range game," Medlin said. "Mack’s strength is his ability to shoot and to shoot off the dribble. He has that ability to take the ball hard to the basket and pull up to shoot from 15, 16 or 17 feet. He doesn’t force the issue.

"Coach (assistant George) Stackhouse of East Carolina talked about Mack’s mid-range game and Coach Sherard of Virginia raved about that, too."

Montgomery, called simply "a guard" by his coach, played both backcourt spots for Clayton last season, but spent most of his time at the two position.

"He can handle the ball and he jumps well," Medlin said. "He is real solid in every aspect of the game. He can even play small forward because he rebounds so well. He had to do a lot of that for us because we aren’t very big.

"Mack shoots his jump shot at the top of his jump, and he could be much more of a scorer. His biggest games are the ones that are close."

Montgomery has taken unofficial visits to East Carolina, Virginia and UNC-Wilmington. Stanford could offer a scholarship, but cannot until he is accepted by the school’s admissions department.

Getting a green flag from an admissions office isn’t likely to be a problem for Montgomery, who is a fine student. He carries a 4.1 grade-point average, weighted by advanced placement and honors courses. He has scored 1,100 on the SAT.

When hearing basketball program names like Stanford and Virginia rattled off, Pirates fans may feel ECU’s chances of landing Montgomery are slim. Not so, though.

"I would not be at all surprised to see Mack pick East Carolina," Medlin said. "Their basketball program is improving, and Conference USA is really strong. He is looking for the best situation, even if it isn’t at a high-major basketball school."

Montgomery, who will attend a workout soon at N.C. State, plays AAU hoops with the North Carolina Gators. When their season ends sometime in July, he will start sorting out his recruiting options.

"That’s when he will start eliminating some people," Medlin said. "East Carolina is really pushing for a commitment now, but it will be a while before Mack decides anything."

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02/23/2007 02:40:36 PM