Renee Danielle Montgomery (born December 2, 1986) is an American former professional basketball player, sports broadcaster and 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, 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 to 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 U-20 Championship for Women in Mexico City.
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 slot on January 19, following a season-ending injury to Mel Thomas, after playing the majority of her career at point guard. 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 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, Montgomery 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, Montgomery had the best season of her career once she became the starting point guard for the Sun. She averaged 14.6 ppg and was voted as an all-star for the first time in her career.