Montgomery grew from blip to MVP

Nate Montgomery arrived at Whitworth University expecting to obtain his degree in engineering physics in three years and move quickly on to the real world.

But basketball derailed his fast-track academic game plan.

Five years later, the Pirates’ 6-foot-8 senior center and 2010 Northwest Conference Player of the Year is finishing up a second degree – this one in business – and anticipating what he hopes will be another deep run in the NCAA Division III tournament that, for Whitworth, starts Saturday.

“It has been kind of a weird ride,” Montgomery said earlier this week. “But looking back, it’s been the greatest experience of my life.”

Montgomery came to Whitworth wallowing in self-doubt about his on-court abilities and sporting a basketball resume that was spotty, at best. He had been cut from his Eastlake High School team in Sammamish, Wash., as a junior. A so-so senior season, in which he didn’t earn a starting role until a third of the way through the year, left him far removed from the recruiting radar screens of college coaches.

He considered giving up on basketball and enrolling at the University of Washington, but he opted instead to walk on to the team at Whitworth – a decision that seemed a bit awkward at first.

“I went to the first (team) meeting,” said Montgomery, who was only about 6-5 and 200 pounds then, “but I had a lot of doubt in my mind – ‘Am I going to be able to commit to this completely?’ I was, after all, going the engineering route and was only going to be here three years.”

In the end, self-doubt won out and Montgomery passed on basketball – sort of.

He made studying a top priority but managed to keep his passion for basketball alive by competing in one of the school’s intramural leagues.

It was fun, but not fulfilling.

The following year, he walked on to the Whitworth team, where he labored as a member of the “meat squad,” taking daily punishment during practice from former Pirates standout Kevin Hasenfus and several of coach Jim Hayford’s other physical frontliners.

“I think it was Kevin’s influence that got Nate serious about the weight room, because he put on almost 40 pounds of strength and muscle he didn’t have four years ago,” Hayford said of the 240-pound Montgomery, who has since developed into one of the most dominant Division III big men in the country.

Montgomery leads the fourth-ranked Pirates (25-2) – who open tournament play at home Saturday night against Chapman (24-2) – in scoring (16.6 ppg) and rebounding (8.0 rpg) and torched NWC rival George Fox for a career-high 33 points during the regular season. He is shooting a NWC-best 60.2 percent from the field and posted eight double-doubles in helping the Bucs to a 16-0 conference record and another NWC tournament title.

“If there’s a better walk-on in America – at any level – I’d love to find out who it is,” Hayford said. “And as proud as I am of everything he’s done on the basketball court, if you talked to any of his professors, I’m sure they would be just as proud of what he’s done in the classroom.”

Montgomery insists he holds no grudge against his high school coach.

“Actually, getting cut my junior year was probably one of the best things that happened to me,” he said. “I was shocked when it happened, but it motivated me to work at getting stronger and better.”

Hayford said that he and his assistant coaches were only lukewarm about having Montgomery join the team as a redshirt freshman.

“He hadn’t played the year before, but we figured, ‘Gosh, the guy’s 6-8, let’s see what we can do with him,’ ” he said.

It became obvious early on that Montgomery possessed the raw skills necessary to eventually have an impact on the program. Thanks to his work ethic, he did exactly that, becoming a part-time starter as a sophomore and emerging as a productive low-post workhorse the following year when he averaged 14.3 points and 6.9 rebounds in helping the Bucs win the NWC tournament and earn a third consecutive NCAA berth.

“Nate has earned everything he’s gotten,” Hayford said. “He could have graduated last year, but he took on a second major – along with the expense of that – so he could play this last year. And he’s made the most of it.”

So Hayford was more than elated to learn Montgomery had been honored as the NWC’s best this winter.

“I took him aside prior to the official announcement and said, ‘Hey, you’re the conference MVP,’ ” Hayford said. “I surprised myself, because I got choked up talking to him. I told him that, in life, there are no guarantees you will get rewarded for doing all the right things.

“And then I told him how gratifying if was for me to be able to tell him that he had.”