Back for more: Rob Montgomery gears up for senior year at Central Michigan
Senior forward Rob Montgomery poses for a photo after the Maroon and Gold Scrimmage Oct. 22 at McGuirk Arena.
It was March 2, 2019.
The Central Michigan men's basketball team was gearing up to play Toledo in a Mid-American Conference showdown at McGuirk Arena.
Rob Montgomery suffered an injury to his groin in warmups about 12 minutes before tip-off against the Rockets. The then-junior forward was forced to sit out the game that had significant Mid-American Tournament and regular season implications.
CMU went on to lose the game, 80-68.
Montgomery missed the three games – the loss to Toledo, another home loss to Northern Illinois and a CMU win in the season finale at Western Michigan.
At that point in the season, CMU was looking for the MAC West Division title and a win over Toledo would have bolstered its case. Instead, back-to-back home losses hurt the Chippewas' tournament seeding.
The two losses slid the Chippewas out of a first-round bye in the Mid-American Conference Tournament. Instead, they faced the Broncos in the first round and had to earn their way to play in Cleveland.
Montgomery played sparingly in that matchup against Western Michigan. He said that suffering the injury was difficult yet eye-opening.
"It can go just like that," Montgomery said of his injury. "I do my regular, everyday movements and then I get an injury. It made me value the game so much more because at any given time you can just be done playing. Fortunately, I had a small injury and not a big one."
The Montgomery Village, Maryland native played in 32 games last season, making 31 starts. He averaged 10.8 points per game and had 182 total rebounds on the season. He also shot 44% from the field, 30% from 3-point range and 59% from the free throw line.
Central Michigan forward Rob Montgomery makes a layup Oct. 22 at McGuirk Arena.
Going into his senior year, Montgomery is excited for the opportunity to return to the lineup and has plenty of goals for the team, but it starts with the basics.
"Collectively, as a team, just keep improving every day," Montgomery said. "I thought we did that in the summer. At the beginning of the school year, we took the right step following our progress in the summer. Just keep building every day, we have all the talent in the world.
"We can make a deep run and I think we have a great chance of winning the MAC. We just have to worry about ourselves."
Montgomery's absence down the stretch last season disrupted the team because it lost the only true inside presence.
At points last season, Montgomery was outsized by opponents. He stands at 6-foot-7. Where he might not have the height advantage, he makes up for in other ways.
"I feel like my sight has gotten better," Montgomery said. "My hands have gotten better, and physically, I feel like I'm in better shape than I was last year. I feel a lot more explosive on my feet."
Keno Davis comes into his eighth year at the helm and holds 121 wins during his time in Mount Pleasant, which ranks fourth in program history.
Davis alluded to the fact that Montgomery was out of the last three games of the regular season and saw limited action in the MAC Tournament win over Western Michigan before ultimately making a run to the semifinal round in Cleveland.
"We finished strong largely without a healthy Rob Montgomery," Davis said. "I know he's excited about going into his senior year after having an opportunity to have a great year for us last year. When you go into your senior year, there's always a little difference knowing that it's your last time and an opportunity to make a mark."
Montgomery established himself as a leader last season by starting all but one game he appeared — the MAC Tournament first-round game against Western Michigan.
Heading into the 2019-20 season, Montgomery will be considered one of the leaders again with the departures of guards Larry Austin Jr. and Shawn Roundtree Jr., who are both playing professionally in Europe.
Montgomery is one of a core group of three guys that started last season and is returning to the starting lineup this year. The others are seniors David DiLeo and Kevin McKay.
For all of them, the goal is the same – cut down the nets in Cleveland.
McKay and Montgomery have both been working on their leadership styles to take charge of the program.
"We're working on becoming more vocal," McKay said. "Everyone can see it, especially the returning players, how much he's worked on his game over the summer. He's been doing things that he wasn't doing last year. He's been shooting the three better, even getting to the rim a lot better and having a lot better mid-range shot.
"He's leading by example that way, the strides he's making motivates other people to do the same."
One of the newcomers that Montgomery has shed light upon is freshman center Caleb Hodgson.
Hodgson, a 6-foot-10 center from Dansville, comes in following a strong career at Dansville High School. He averaged 23 points, 16.1 rebounds and 5.3 blocks per game during his senior year.
While the freshman does not know exactly where he will fit into the rotation, he said that he has already learned a lot from Montgomery.
"He's a really good teammate," Hodgson said. "Just seeing him in practice, watching him but also learning from what he tells me. What do I do on this play, or this play, from his experience, I've learned from watching him but also from what he's told me."
Central Michigan travels to DePaul, who CMU played in the College Basketball Invitational last season on Nov. 23, and play road games against Texas (Dec. 14) and Purdue (Dec. 28).
Montgomery said that playing some of those big-time teams is something he's excited about this season.
"I'm looking forward to that," Montgomery said. "It'll give us a good test and show us where we are. I'm just ready to get back playing.
"I'm excited for the whole season, there's nothing I'm not looking forward to."
