E.J. Montgomery has decided to withdraw his name from the NBA Draft and return to Lexington, which could be a huge boost for the Kentucky Wildcats next season.
After going through the draft process, Kentucky forward E.J. Montgomery has decided he’s not ready to go pro just yet.
Montgomery, who averaged 3.8 points and 4.1 rebounds for the Wildcats this year, is pulling his name from the draft in order to return to the Wildcats for his sophomore season.
This move isn’t surprising since Montgomery wasn’t invited to the NBA Draft Combine and only had one workout with the San Antonio Spurs.
Montgomery was never really in the mix in mock drafts either, so it made a ton of sense for him to come back to Lexington for another year of development.
That strategy worked out for P.J. Washington, who tested the waters after his freshman year only to return to Kentucky for his sophomore season. Washington became a breakout star this year and is now a potential lottery pick.
Montgomery could certainly use another year to grow into his frame, helping his body become more NBA ready. Another area of Montgomery’s game that could improve is his outside stroke, which saw him knock down just 20 percent of his three-point attempts.
This decision is also a big win for Kentucky, which is losing a lot of key players off of their roster, including Tyler Herro, Keldon Johnson and the aforementioned Washington.
Montgomery can step right into Washington’s place in the starting lineup, adding more continuity to a team that will be integrating another class of fabulous freshmen to the roster.
Continuity is key in college basketball since a team filled with primarily with pure one-and-done players hasn’t won it all since Kentucky back in 2012.
Having a few sophomores team with the incoming freshmen and grad transfer Nick Sestina could be just the mix John Calipari needs to win a second title at Kentucky.