Plum graduate Kennedie Montue flashes potential with D-I Oakland

When Kennedie Montue finally got her shot this season with the Oakland University basketball team, she made it count.

That should come as no surprise since making shots is what the Plum graduate does best.

Montue, a freshman guard, played five total minutes in the Golden Grizzlies’ first 11 games, but her contributions were needed Dec. 30 against Milwaukee after three Oakland players tested positive for covid-19 the morning of the game.

She responded with nine points — including two 3-pointers — and four rebounds in 18 minutes, helping her team to a 66-53 victory in the Horizon League.

“I’ve been looking for my opportunity to play, and once I stepped on the floor, I kind of just let it all go and played my game,” said Montue, who earned the conference’s rookie of the week award for her performance. “I was very, very nervous, but after I stepped on the floor, my mind went straight to basketball.”

Ke’Sha Blanton, Oakland’s acting coach, wasn’t surprised.

“We’d always known she could do it, and it was just awesome to see her finally have the opportunity to do it,” said Blanton, who recruited Montue while an assistant at Miami (Ohio) from 2017-19 before being hired at Oakland. “I was just super happy and super proud.

“She did a little bit of everything, but I think the thing that surprised me the most was her defense was really, really good, which is what we’re always harping with her about. When it came down to getting in the game, she really defended.”

The 5-foot-11 Montue led the WPIAL with 23.3 points per game last winter and became Plum’s all-time leading scorer with 1,473 points. She earned Valley News Dispatch Player of the Year as a junior and senior. But going from the WPIAL to Oakland, a Division I school near Detroit, is a Great Lakes-sized jump.

“It’s a whole different level and a whole different mindset than high school basketball,” Montue said. “You have to be strong mentally to play college basketball. Everybody can play.

“Honestly, coming in here I didn’t have as much confidence. I was kind of thinking maybe this is hard, but my confidence definitely has grown. I feel like I belong here, and this is what I want to do with my life.”

Blanton’s best advice to star high school players such as Montue who might not make an immediate impact?

“Sometimes you have to wait your turn and wait for your opportunity, but you can’t get down on yourself. You can’t think you’re not ready for this level. You have to believe that you’re here for a reason.

“At the beginning of the season, she had come from a system where she was THE player, THE one. To come into a system where you have some upperclassmen ahead of you and you’re not that one player, she was in a position where I think for the first time she realized, ‘Oh I really have to give it my all, and every day I have to come with my best.’”

Montue’s biggest strength is her shooting, and she showed her defensive potential in the Milwaukee game. Next on the to-do list is improving her ball-handling.

“Now it’s time for me to work harder in the weight room and work harder on the court and just play my game,” Montue said. “And when I get my next opportunity, just go out there and give it my all again.”

Count her coach among those who see big things ahead.

“She’s going to be a really, really good player at Oakland,” Blanton said, “and she’s going to be a really good player in the Horizon League.”