Warrior Insider

John Montgomery experienced numerous vacations in Hawaii when he was younger. He’s now ready to work at the University of Hawai’i.

Montgomery is the newest addition to the UH basketball staff, as head coach Eran Ganot announced him as an assistant coach on Tuesday afternoon.

“Hawai’i actually holds a special place in my heart,” Montgomery said. “I went to Hawai’i almost every year as a kid, so I’ve been over here many times and always appreciated the culture and really enjoy it over here. It is a dream come true.”

Montgomery comes from a solid coaching pedigree. His father, Mike Montgomery, was a successful college head coach at Montana, Stanford and Cal, and also coached two seasons for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors.

“I knew from a young age I wanted to be a coach,” Montgomery said. “I started as a ball boy for the Stanford teams … I essentially learned the game through watching and watching my dad’s practices and being at all the games. I always thought of myself as a coach; I was always preparing myself to be a basketball coach.”

Montgomery played four seasons at Loyola Marymount, then immediately went into college coaching. He spent one year as an assistant at Furman University, followed by six seasons at Cal as both a Director of Basketball Operations and assistant coach. He was a DOBO at the University of San Francisco last season.

Interestingly enough, he was looking to join the staff at Saint Mary’s when he heard about the assistant position opening up at UH after the departure of Norm Parrish. Ganot was the associate head coach at Saint Mary’s prior to becoming the head coach at UH this year.

“Quite honestly, when I was at Cal, I always admired the Saint Mary’s program and how good they were and Eran was a huge part of that,” Montgomery said.

Montgomery said he has developed recruiting ties in Europe and California, and is looking forward to bringing new recruits to Hawai’i in future years. “I have a lot of European ties and recruited Europe quite a bit at Cal,” he said. “I think recruiting is going to be a big component, even the ties to California.”

The hiring of Montgomery re-completes Ganot’s staff at UH. The other assistants are Adam Jacobsen and Chris Acker.

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Here is the official announcement from UH Athletics:

HONOLULU – University of Hawai‘i men’s basketball coach Eran Ganot put together the final touches on his coaching staff, announcing the hiring of John Montgomery as assistant coach for the Rainbow Warriors. Montgomery brings experience and winning at the highest level after a six-year run with the California Golden Bears of the Pac-12 Conference.

“I am thrilled and excited for the opportunity to join Coach Ganot and the Rainbow Warrior coaching staff,” said Montgomery. “Hawai‘i holds a special place in my heart as I visited the islands frequently when I was younger. While playing at Loyola Marymount, I had the opportunity to play against Coach Ganot’s St. Mary’s teams and I’ve always been impressed with him and believe in the program he’s running. I look forward to working with the players and staff toward the goal of winning a Big West title.”

“We’re excited to welcome John to our men’s basketball ‘ohana,” added Ganot. “He is someone I have gotten to know well over the years during my time at Saint Mary’s as he has been nearby at Cal and at USF. He has a proven track record of success in terms of helping his teams reach great heights and in terms of recruiting, with a focus in the west and internationally, two target areas for us. I’m fired up to go to work every day with this staff. This is a highly motivated and eager group that is committed to this program.”

Montgomery, who joined the San Francisco men’s basketball coaching staff last year for one season, served as director of basketball operations at Cal for three seasons before being elevated to assistant coach for the 2011-12 season. He worked primarily with the team’s guards and aided in the development of Pac-12 Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year Jorge Gutierrez along with all-conference honorees Allen Crabbe and Justin Cobbs. Crabbe earned Pac-12 Player of the Year honors in 2012-13 as a junior before embarking on a promising NBA career with the Portland Trailblazers.

In his six seasons at Cal, the program went to four NCAA Tournaments and two NIT’s. The 2009-10 Cal Bears team won the Pac-12 for the first time since 1960, then known as the Pac-10. Overall, the team posted an impressive 130-73 record during Montgomery’s tenure with the team. In the 2012-13 season, the second of back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances, Cal defeated UNLV in the second round before falling to eventual Final Four participant Syracuse.

Montgomery was a four-year letterwinner as a point guard at Loyola Marymount. As a senior, he started 12 of 30 games and averaged 5.5 points and 2.4 assists per game. He poured in a career high 20 points, dished out eight assists and went 3-for-6 from three-point range against Pepperdine. He also helped the Lions to a win over nationally-ranked Gonzaga, scoring 12 points and making three free throws in the last minute to seal the victory.

A native of Menlo Park, Calif., Montgomery earned his bachelor’s degree in sociology with a minor in business administration from Loyola Marymount in 2007. He is also the son of legendary basketball coach Mike Montgomery whom he coached under while at Cal.