Renee Danielle Montgomery (born December 2, 1986) is an American former professional basketball player, sports broadcaster and an activist; who is currently vice president, part-owner, and investor of the Atlanta Dream, and one of three owners of the FCF Beasts Indoor Football Team; making her the first player in the WNBA to become an owner and executive of a team and first female owner in the FCF. During her 11-year playing career in the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. The league comprises 13 teams (scheduled to expand to 15 in 2026). The WNBA is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. The WNBA w ...

, she won two championships with the Minnesota Lynx in 2015 and 2017. During her college playing career, she won a national championship with the UConn Huskies in 2009. In 2020, Montgomery opted-out of the WNBA season in protest of police brutality, bringing forth awareness throughout the league and leading multiple campaigns dedicated to human rights.

High school

Montgomery was a high school teammate of fellow future WNBA player Alexis Hornbuckle at South Charleston High School, where she was a captain each year of her high school career. She led the school to the West Virginia state Championships three times, averaging 22.5 points, six assists, five rebounds and five steals while leading the school to the West Virginia Class AAA Final as a senior. She also played on the varsity soccer team.

College career

She attended the University of Connecticut.

Freshman year

She started 35 of the Huskies' 37 games at point guard and was named 2006 Big East Freshman of the Year.

Sophomore year

Montgomery started in all 36 games as the Huskies' point guard. She tallied double-figure points in 29 games, including four 20-point plus scoring efforts. Montgomery led the team with a 13.3 scoring average and 163 assists. She was named first team All-Big East. In addition, Montgomery led the USA U-20 National Team to a gold medal during the summer prior to the start of the season at the

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French language, French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the Basketball equipment ...

U-20 Championship for Women in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

Junior year

Montgomery was selected as an All-Big East First Team choice for the second consecutive season. She was also selected to the All-Big East Tournament Team for the third consecutive season. Montgomery moved to the

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game ...

slot on January 19, following a season-ending injury to Mel Thomas, after playing the majority of her career at

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

. She passed the 1,000 point mark in an 82–71 UConn win over North Carolina on January 21, 2008, at Gampel Pavilion. The Huskies lost in the Final Four to Stanford and finished the season at 36–2.

Senior year

Montgomery reached double figure points in all but four games this season, and led the Huskies to a 39–0 season and her first and only National Championship. She finished her career in the Top Ten of many categories in the UConn women's basketball recordbooks including No. 1 in games played (150), No. 6 in career points (1,990), No. 6 in FG's (703), No. 4 in 3pt FG's (254), No. 9 in FT's (330), No. 3 in Assists (632), and No. 5 in Steals (266). She was the first Husky to be recognized in the "Huskies of Honor" while still playing in a Husky uniform. ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'' did a series of thirteen photographs featuring teams chasing or achieving perfect seasons—an entire season without a loss. The photograph of Coach Geno Auriemma embracing Renee Montgomery during the 2008–09 season is included in the collection.

Professional career

WNBA

Montgomery was selected fourth overall in the 2009 WNBA draft by the Minnesota Lynx. In 2010, Montgomery was traded to the Connecticut Sun, as part of a trade involving Minnesota native Lindsay Whalen and the first pick in the 2010 draft, with which the Sun selected Tina Charles, Montgomery's former college teammate. In college, she wore 20 as a uniform number. Players often become attached to their numbers, some more than others. Renee liked her number so much that her personal website is reneemontgomery20.com. The Sun also added veteran Kara Lawson to the team, who had worn No. 20 in college and with the Sacramento Monarchs, so Montgomery wore No. 21 for the Sun. During the 2009–10 collegiate basketball season, Montgomery occasionally worked as a color commentator for women's college games broadcast on the ESPN family of networks. During the 2011 WNBA season, she had the best season of her career once she became the starting point guard for the Sun and averaged 14.6 ppg and was voted as an all-star for the first time in her career. In 2012, Montgomery came off the bench for the Sun, but was still effective, averaging 11.6 ppg and winning WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year. The Sun made it to the playoffs that year and were one win away from advancing to the Finals, but were eliminated by the eventual champions Indiana Fever in game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals. On January 28, 2015, the Connecticut Sun traded Montgomery along with their third and fifteen overall picks in the 2015 WNBA draft to the Seattle Storm in exchange for Camille Little and Shekinna Stricklen. On July 20, 2015, Montgomery was reacquired by the Minnesota Lynx in a trade for Monica Wright. Montgomery ended up winning her first WNBA championship with the Lynx after they defeated the Indiana Fever in the Finals. In 2016, Montgomery played a full season for the Lynx for the first time since her rookie season. She averaged 7.5 ppg off the bench and the Lynx were in the hunt to win back-to-back championships, but lost to the Los Angeles Sparks in the Finals. In 2017, Montgomery averaged 8.0 ppg and achieved a new career-high in field goal shooting percentage. Montgomery also started in 12 of 34 games played while Whalen was sidelined with a hand injury. The Lynx continued to be a championship contender in the league after making it to the Finals for the sixth time in seven seasons, setting up a rematch with the Sparks. This time the Lynx would win in 5 games, winning their fourth championship in seven seasons, tying the now-defunct Houston Comets for most championship titles. On February 1, 2018, Montgomery signed a multi-year contract with the Atlanta Dream. She would be the starting point guard for the team. On August 12, 2018, Montgomery scored a season-high 30 points along with a career-high 8 three-pointers in an 86–77 victory over the New York Liberty, tying the regular season record for most three-pointers in a game. She also hit 7 of her 8 three-pointers in the second half, breaking the WNBA record for most three-pointers in a half. By the end of the season, Montgomery set the franchise record for most three-pointers made in a season. The Dream finished 23–11 with the number 2 seed in the league, receiving a double-bye to the semi-finals. Without the team's leading scorer Angel McCoughtry, who was sidelined with a knee injury, the Dream were short-handed in the playoffs and lost in five games to the Washington Mystics. In June 2020, Montgomery announced that she would forgo the 2020 WNBA season due to concerns of racism and the

coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the comm ...

. In February 2021, she announced her retirement from the WNBA.

Overseas

In the 2009-10 off-season, Montgomery played in

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

for BC VIČI-Aistės Kaunas. In the 2010-11 off-season, she played in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

for Maccabi Bnot Ashdod. In the 2012-13 off-season, she played in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

for

Nadezhda Orenburg PBK Nadezhda Orenburg () is a Russian professional women's basketball club from Orenburg founded in 1994. Nadezhda has been 3rd in the Russian Women's Basketball Premier League, Russian Premier League in 2010 and 2011, and reached the Russian Wo ...

. In the 2013–14 off-season, she played for Tarsus in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and for Vologda-Chevakata in Russia; in the 2014-15 off-season, she again played for Vologda-Chevakata. In the 2015-16 off-season, she played in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

for the Canberra Capitals. She signed with Basket 90 Gdynia in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

for the 2016-17 off-season. In 2017, Montgomery signed with Maccabi Ramat Hen of the Israeli League for the 2017-18 off-season.

USA Basketball

Montgomery was invited to the USA Basketball Women's National Team training camp in the fall of 2009. The team selected to play for the FIBA World Championship and the Summer Olympics is usually chosen from these participants. At the conclusion of the training camp, the team traveled to Ekaterinburg, Russia, where they competed in the 2009 UMMC Ekaterinburg International Invitational. Montgomery was one of twenty players named to the national team pool, from which twelve players would be chosen to represent the US in the 2010 FIBA World Championships and the 2012 Olympics. Montgomery was named as one of the National team members to represent the USA Basketball team in the WNBA versus USA Basketball. This game replaced the normal WNBA All-Star game with WNBA All-Stars versus USA Basketball, as part of the preparation for the FIBA World Championship for Women to be held in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

during September and October, 2010.

Career statistics

College

WNBA

Regular season

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2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

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Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

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2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

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Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, 34 , , 23 , , 27.6 , , .401 , , .349 , , .855 , , 2.2 , , 4.1 , , 1.3 , , 0.1 , , 2.2 , , 13.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

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, 34 , , 34 , , 29.1 , , .400 , , .384 , , .829 , , 2.1 , , 4.9 , , 1.4 , , 0.1 , , 2.6 , , 14.6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

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, 34 , , 0 , , 24.0 , , .348 , , .364 , , .848 , , 1.9 , , 2.6 , , 1.0 , , 0.1 , , 2.2 , , 11.6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

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, 23 , , 18 , , 27.2 , , .365 , , .327 , , .897, , 1.8 , , 3.1 , , 0.7 , , 0.0 , , 2.4 , , 10.1 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

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, 33 , , 0 , , 16.2 , , .373 , , .330 , , .775 , , 0.8 , , 2.4 , , 0.6 , , 0.1 , , 1.3 , , 6.7 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

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Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

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* , style="text-align:left;",

, 17 , , 5 , , 17.9 , , .368 , , .232 , , .714 , , 1.2 , , 2.5 , , 0.6 , , 0.1 , , 1.0 , , 5.7 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;",

^† , style="text-align:left;", Total , 34 , , 7 , , 17.8 , , .372 , , .312 , , .759 , , 1.5 , , 2.7 , , 0.7 , , 0.1 , , 1.0 , , 6.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016 , style="text-align:left;",

, 34 , , 2 , , 19.3 , , .397 , , .321 , , .828 , , 0.9 , , 2.8 , , 0.9 , , 0.1 , , 1.7 , , 7.5 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;", 2017^† , style="text-align:left;",

, 34 , , 12 , , 21.8 , , .424 , , .358 , , .842 , , 1.6 , , 3.4 , , 0.7 , , 0.1 , , 1.7 , , 8.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

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Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

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, 34 , , 34 , , 27.9 , , .370 , , .324 , , .824 , , 2.2 , , 2.6 , , 0.9 , , 0.2 , , 1.9 , , 9.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", 10 years, 5 teams , 364 , , 173 , , 23.6 , , .386 , , .347 , , .840 , , 1.7 , , 3.1 , , 1.0 , , 0.1 , , 1.9 , , 9.7

Postseason

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, 5 , , 0 , , 24.0 , , .393 , , .412 , , .833 , , 1.2 , , 3.4 , , 0.4 , , 0.0 , , 1.4 , , 6.8 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;",

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, 9 , , 0 , , 9.7 , , .478 , , .308 , , .875 , , 0.3 , , 0.9 , , 0.6 , , 0.1 , , 0.5 , , 3.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016 , style="text-align:left;",

, 8 , , 0 , , 12.6 , , .370 , , .444 , , .900 , , 0.4 , , 1.9 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 1.0 , , 4.1 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;", 2017^† , style="text-align:left;",

, 8 , , 0 , , 17.1 , , .449 , , .393 , , .500 , , 1.3 , , 1.9 , , 0.5 , , 0.2 , , 1.2 , , 7.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;",

, 5 , , 5 , , 31.7 , , .293 , , .286 , , .846 , , 2.0 , , 4.2 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 1.8 , , 8.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", 6 years, 3 teams , 37 , , 7 , , 17.9 , , .400 , , .356 , , .851 , , 0.9 , , 2.3 , , 0.5 , , 0.1 , , 1.2 , , 6.1

Post-playing career

Ownership of Atlanta Dream

In February 2021, Montgomery was part of a three-member investor group that was approved to purchase the Atlanta Dream. The ownership change followed pressure on former owner Kelly Loeffler, a Republican former U.S. Senator who had angered WNBA players with her opposition to the league's racial justice initiatives, to sell her share of the Dream. Loeffler had previously refused a visit with Montgomery on social justice initiatives.

Ownership of FCF Beasts

On January 4, 2021, Montgomery joined Miro and Marshawn Lynch as a partial owner of the FCF Beasts of Fan Controlled Football.

Broadcasting

In 2020, Montgomery began working as a studio analyst for Fox Sports Southeast's broadcasts of

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

games. She had previously appeared on the network as a guest analyst. In March 2021, Montgomery was announced as the co-host of a Crooked Media podcast titled ''Takeline'' with Jason Concepcion. Montgomery called 2021 NCAA women's basketball tournament games for ESPN alongside Beth Mowins. In September 2021, Montgomery joined Meadowlark Media, for which she makes the podcast ''Montgomery & Co.''

Other ventures

Montgomery is an investor in MOORvision Technologies and Ucam, a camera built to capture athlete's point of view during games.

Documentary

In 2024, A Radical Act: Renee Montgomery, a feature

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

chronicling Montgomery’s journey from WNBA star to team co-owner and activist, was released on Roku Originals. Produced by LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s UNINTERRUPTED and directed by

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

Award winner Sandrine Orabona, the film explores Montgomery’s impact on sports, social justice, and community leadership. The documentary premiered at the Uninterrupted Film Festival and screened at the Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival.

Personal life

In April 2020, Montgomery married music artist Sirena Grace. She has an adoptive son named Angel Wiley, and a clip from 2023 featuring them dancing in their seats at an Atlanta Dream game went viral on social media in January 2025, in which Wiley is referred to as "Chopped Chin" in reference to the appearance of his chin.

Awards and honors

* 2005 McDonald's All-America. * 2005 Gatorade West Virginia High School Player of the Year. * 2005 Street & Smith Third Team All-America. * 2005 Associated Press West Virginia Player of the Year. * 2005 WBCA Honorable Mention All-America. * 2004 Street & Smith Third Team All-America. * 2003 Street & Smith Honorable Mention All-America * 2009 Nancy Lieberman Award – Top Point Guard * 2009 Honda Sports Award, basketball * 2009 Finalist for Honda-Broderick Cup * 2009 Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award * 2009 Gazette Sportsperson of the Year

References

External links

UConn Husky bio

WNBA bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Montgomery, Renee 1986 births Living people All-American college women's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Australia American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Lithuania American expatriate basketball people in Poland American expatriate basketball people in Russia American women's basketball players American lesbian sportswomen Atlanta Dream owners Basketball players from West Virginia Connecticut Sun players LGBTQ basketball players LGBTQ people from West Virginia McDonald's High School All-Americans Minnesota Lynx draft picks Minnesota Lynx players People from St. Albans, West Virginia Sportspeople from South Charleston, West Virginia Point guards Seattle Storm players South Charleston High School alumni UConn Huskies women's basketball players WNBA All-Stars

High school

College career

Freshman year

Sophomore year

Junior year

Senior year

Professional career

WNBA

Overseas

USA Basketball

Career statistics

College

WNBA

Regular season

Postseason

Post-playing career

Ownership of Atlanta Dream

Ownership of FCF Beasts

Broadcasting

Other ventures

Documentary

Personal life

Awards and honors

See also

References

External links