Montgomery now UConn's sole leader

By: Mike Northup

Posted: 11/14/08

Maya Moore remembers when she realized that Renee Montgomery was going to be the unquestioned leader of this year's team. It was the end of the team's trip to YMCA Camp Jewell in Colebrook. Each player had to pick a name out of a hat and say something about that person, be it a player or coach.

Even though it wasn't what Montgomery picked from the hat, coach Geno Auriemma had her speak about the freshmen.

"She was accurate and said some different things about our freshmen like what their strengths and weaknesses are, and it really taught me that I have to be aware of, you know, everybody," Moore said. "And even though the freshmen wasn't her person to watch, she was observing them and knew how to help them at the time, and I just thought that was great for me to learn from her."

In Auriemma's eyes, potential for leadership is either something you've got within you, or something you don't. All it takes is the ability to impact the team physically and then the personality to follow up.

There was never any question for Auriemma. Montgomery had it.

"Some people just have that personality type and Renee Montgomery came here as a freshman and was like, 'This is what I do,'" Auriemma said.

Auriemma says the 2008-09 squad will have Montgomery's stamp on it. The 5-foot-7 guard's presence is unavoidable.

"If you're in the locker room or if you're in the training room or on the bus or in the restaurant, if you're on the court, in the huddle, or she's on the bench, you always know when Renee Montgomery is near," Auriemma said. "She's part of what we're doing. You always know she's there. She's a presence and not everybody has that presence."

Montgomery has always been one of the most outspoken members of the team; that part goes unquestioned by anyone familiar with the Huskies. If you ask Auriemma and Montgomery when she first truly emerged as a leader, however, you'll get differing answers.

"Renee's been of that mindset since freshman year," Auriemma said. "Renee's been the starting quarterback since freshman year."

Montgomery feels that her emergence as a team leader took a little bit longer.

"My freshman year, I would talk, talk, talk, but I'd pretty much go with the flow," Montgomery said. "I never really said anything that was against what the upperclassmen said, but my sophomore year, I was just kind of talking more, plus I don't think I earned my right freshman year."

By sophomore year, Montgomery was named a captain and she finally felt like all her talk had begun to have some weight behind it. Even then, though, Auriemma says she would be more general with her criticisms on the court, being careful not to overstep her boundaries or cross any of the older players.

Stepping into senior season, it's a different story. As the most experienced player on the team, and arguably all of women's college basketball (her 109 career starts leads the NCAA and is 10 more than Oklahoma senior Courtney Paris), the rest of the Huskies look to her as the unquestioned leader.

Montgomery has the numbers to back it up, too. She's increased her scoring average each year with the Huskies, with a 14.1 points-per-game average in 2007-08 that was third-best on the team behind Maya Moore and Tina Charles. Montgomery has recorded more than 100 assists each season with UConn, reaching a career high of 163 in 2006-2007, which stands at eighth in UConn history for a single season.

Even though she's as talkative as ever this year, Auriemma said that Montgomery still has a tendency to be too "nicey nicey" when she talks to the other players when calling them out.

"If someone misses a play, I'll say, 'Come on, get the next one,' but he's like 'What if there is no next one?'" Montgomery said. "So that's probably my flaw."

Montgomery's biggest goal is to keep everyone focused on the ultimate goal of winning a national championship and on the same page as the coaching staff this year. According to her, the rest of the team makes that an easy process.

"No one on our team has any individual agendas or personal agendas that they have going on," Montgomery said. "I think our ultimate goal is to win a national championship and I think everyone honestly feels that way this year."

With Montgomery leading the charge, the Huskies could be well on their way.