By JACOB POLACHECK
E.J. Montgomery, the 6-foot-10 power forward from Wheeler (GA) High School, told 247Sports on Friday that he is working to set up official visits, with the first school being a potential visit to Duke.
“We are going to go to Duke,” Montgomery said. “We have a couple of dates with them. We haven’t pinpointed that date yet, but it is next month. We just have to see which one fits. He gave us a couple of dates around some home games they have.”
Montgomery and his parents also told 247Sports that they are down to Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, Georgetown, USC, Georgia, Clemson and UCLA.
E.J. Montgomery Sr. said that all 11 schools on their list have offered a scholarship.
“We are going to narrow that list down in a week or two,” Montgomery Sr. said. “We are going to chop it down to five.”
Last week the Blue Devils added a commitment from five-star forward Zion Williamson, giving them pledges from four of the top eight prospects in the 2018 class.
“No, everything is still the same,” Montgomery Sr. said when asked if Williamson’s pledge impacted his recruitment.
“They like his size and versatility,” he added.
Montgomery, a former Auburn commit, de-committed from the Tigers last fall, following an FBI probe into separate incidents with an Auburn assistant, and three other college basketball coaches.
Vanderbilt and Wake Forest watched Montgomery practice on Wednesday. Then on Thursday night, Montgomery scored 39 points and reeled in 15 rebounds in front of a pair of assistants.
“North Carolina and South Carolina were there tonight,” Montgomery Sr. said.
“Hubert [Davis] was here tonight at the game,” he added. “Roy [Williams] is supposed to come in on Saturday. One of his other assistants was at a game early on.”
Montgomery has taken at least a pair of recent unofficial visits. He took an unofficial visit to Clemson in December and most recently visited Vanderbilt, while close by for an event.
“They had a game over in Nashville, because we were there we did an unofficial with Vanderbilt on Martin Luther King Day on the 15th,” Montgomery’s mother told 247Sports.
Among the schools that have begun to pick up their interest in Montgomery is Kentucky. According to Montgomery Sr. they’ve been actively communicating with both he and his son.
“They’ve been involved for a month or so now,” he said. “We first heard from them a month ago. They’ve been talking to me and EJ, we’ve been texting back and forth. They are planning to go to a game as well.”
In his senior season at Wheeler, Montgomery is averaging 26 points and 14 rebounds a game. He was recently selected for the 2018 McDonald’s All-American Game.
“I’ve just had a different mindset this year, going out there and trying to compete as hard as I can,” the younger Montgomery said.
“I’m just a versatile big guy,” Montgomery said. “I can go inside and out. I’m a pretty good rim protector and a playmaker.”
According to 247Sports, Montgomery is ranked as the No. 12 overall player in the Class of 2018 and the No. 1 player from the state of Georgia.
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