Renee Montgomery
Renee Montgomery, a former WNBA player was drafted 4th overall by the Minnesota Lynx in 2009. She won National Championships with the UCONN Huskies in 2009 and professionally with the Minnesota Lynx in 2015 and 2017. She also won 3 state basketball championships during her high school career. She was named a WNBA All-Star (2012) as well as the WNBA 6th Woman of the Year (2013). In the 2018 WNBA season, she broke a WNBA League record for most 3 pointers made in a half (7). In a previous WNBA season, she reached the 500 mark for 3 pointers made making her 12th on the all-time list.
In addition to her WNBA basketball career, Renee has started her own non-profit (Renee Montgomery Foundation - RMF) whose mission is to provide fun experiences to youth and families and teach them life lessons through principles learned in sports. Some of these principles include leadership, self-discipline, teamwork, sportsmanship, and confidence. Once these skills are mastered, Renee believes the participants in her programs will be fully equipped to conquer any life challenges. The inaugural Let’s Go Pro! initiative was the “coming out” event for the RMF. This event chartered a bus bringing 55 West Virginia residents (half had never left the state) to Atlanta where they stayed overnight and the following day attended Renee’s Atlanta Dream WNBA game. Let’s Go Pro!’s mission is designed to enlighten residents of the state of West Virginia by providing opportunities to attend professional sports games and events. Since WV does not have any pro teams, many West Virginians have never had the opportunity to attend a high-level sporting event. Some upcoming RMF events include a youth 3x3 basketball tournament (an official FIBA event that will be a part of the USA basketball circuit) as well as a Thanksgiving feast for underprivileged families titled “Stuffed!”.
When Renee is not on the court or pursuing her philanthropic endeavors, she has started working on her post-basketball TV hosting career. She has worked with ESPN color commentating collegiate games while also doing in-studio work for NBA TV. Also, in her offseason last year Renee enrolled in professional acting classes and landed multiple roles including the lead on a short film that is streamed on Amazon Prime titled “Not My Favorite Christmas”.
Public speaking and interacting with people are what lead Renee to the entertainment industry. She feels those traits are her strong skills. Renee hopes to be able to make an impact professionally with her positive and uplifting spirit.