A change at the top of Montgomery's recruitment
FlaVarsity.com spoke to 2018 cornerback Ken Montgomery from Hillsborough High School (Tampa, Florida) recently. The talented 6-foot-2, 155-pound defensive back spoke about Hillsborough’s upcoming season and his college recruitment.
Hillsborough went 4-6 last year after graduating quarterback Dwayne Lawson (Virginia Tech) and LB Abdul-'Azeez Al-Shaa'ir (Florida Atlantic) from their 9-2 2014 team. Montgomery said their departure left a void but thinks this year’s team will bounce back.
“We are expecting to do much better than last year,” said the rising junior.
He named Rivals100 defensive end Zachary Carter and inside linebacker Armand Chalk as two guys who will provide senior leadership for the 2016 squad. On offense, Montgomery thinks the Terriers run and shoot offense will improve under quarterback Caleb Youngblood and wide receivers CJ Williams, Nathaniel Dantley Jr., and Cori Fant.
On a personal level, Montgomery said that going into his second full season as a cornerback, he is working hard on his hip work and improving his change of direction coming out of his backpedal.
“I work on it after practice everyday and when I don't have practice I do drills behind closed doors to improve,” offered Montgomery. “I try to model my game after guys like Chris Westry from Kentucky, and (NFL) guys like Brandon Browner and Trae Waynes.
Montgomery holds 13 offers, with at least one school from each of the respective power-5 conferences extending a scholarship. Back in February, FlaVarsity.com editor Mike Singer interviewed Montgomery about his recruitment and Montgomery named the Trojans his leader. Things change fast in recruiting and so has Montgomery’s leader board.
“No I do not have USC as my leader as of today,” he said. “I have no leader but the school making me feel like a priority right now is Florida State.”
When asked why he felt FSU was making him a priority he offered, “I've been talking to coach (Sal) Sunseri everyday and coach (Lawrence) Dawsey every other day. We talk about how my family is doing and a lot of personal things.”
We asked him about his experience at the Jimbo Fisher camp on Friday and he made the following comment, “FSU went great. The coaching staff treated me like I was a priority. They will definitely be in my top schools.”
When asked if FSU was his dream school, he remarked, “I like FSU, but they’re not necessarily my dream school. My parents actually went to (the University of) Florida but I haven’t spoken with (the Gators’ coaching staff) yet. This is going to sound weird but I'm trying to get out of Florida. Now if FSU offers, and they make me feel at home that will be the school I pick, but for now I'm looking to go out of state.”
Montgomery had the following explanation for wanting to explore out-of-state options, “Well I'm playing football to go to college, make an awesome living, and be the best man I can be. My work ethic in the class room is the same as it is on the football field. Education is the biggest thing for me so schools like Stanford, Vanderbilt, and UCLA, catch my eye. I want to choose a school that balances a high level football and academic program.”
Montgomery told us that he has two unofficial visits planned in July. He will head to Kentucky on the 18th and visit both Louisville and Kentucky during that time. Montgomery holds offers from both schools and said that his recruiters for Kentucky are defensive back’s coach Steven Clinckscale and coach Darin Hinshaw. For Louisville, Montgomery said he speaks the most with quarterbacks’ coach Nick Petrino and head coach Bobby Petrino. He is also “very much aware” of the intense rivalry the schools share.
Check back with FlaVaristy.com for updates on Hillsborough’s 2016 campaign as well as Ken Montgomery’s recruitment.