EJ Montgomery bulking up; speaks on potential roster additions

With EJ Montgomery coming back for his sophomore season, the hype is going to be centered around him and how much he improves over the summer.

One area of improvement that we always notice with returning big men how they seem to either cut weight or put on muscle, like we saw with PJ Washington this past season and his transition from his freshman to sophomore season.

Washington actually lost eight pounds — going from 236 to 228 — from his freshman to sophomore season, but added muscle and cut his weight to improve his game and become more agile and lighter on his feet.

EJ Montgomery is no different. Montgomery said that he has already added eight pounds of muscle since the off-season began and that he feels stronger.

Montgomery also admitted PJ’s growth made it easier to return for Year 2 and hopefully have a similar breakout.

“It did once I heard where I would land in the draft and if I came back I would work hard every day just like he did and try to improve my stock,” said Montgomery.

Coming into last season, Montgomery was billed at 225 pounds. His eight pound gain is now putting him at around 233-234 pounds. I think if EJ can get to the magic number of anywhere between 240-250 pounds by November, he could have the potential to have a monster season down in the paint simply by using his size and length to his advantage.

In addition, Montgomery was asked about the potential for UK to add another big man for next season (hint hint Kerry Blackshear). Regardless of who is added, Montgomery is just focused on becoming the best version of himself.

“Whatever Coach Cal thinks we need. If he thinks we need more people or if we don’t, we got to go out there and compete,” said Montgomery.

Even if UK lands Blackshear or another big, Montgomery is going to play a major role in determining just how good the 2019-20 Wildcats will be.