Keshon Montague became the third member of the Barton men’s basketball team to find a home to play next season.
Montague, Barton’s sophomore point guard and leader for the Cougars this past season, made it official when he committed late Monday night to play at Western Illinois for his junior campaign.
“I am very happy for him,” Barton Coach Craig Fletchall said. “Keshon is a high character student athlete that will represent Barton very well. He was always a team-first player for us. But he had the ability to step up and hit some big shots when no one else seemed to be able to get us going.
“Something I think he really improved on during his time here was his leadership. Being a sophomore point guard, he had to be the leader on the floor for us and he really grew into that role and excelled in that role as the season went along.”
This past season, Montague was third for Barton in scoring, tossing in 13.6 points per game while handing out a team-high 5.2 assists per game from that point guard spot. He led the Cougars with 74 3-pointers and shot 75 percent from the free throw line.
Montague was a first team All Jayhawk Conference pick and a second team All Region VI selection in helping Barton to a 29-7 record and a spot in the NJCAA National Tournament.
Like many Cougars, Montague was at his best when it mattered most – Barton’s first National Tournament appearance in 17 years.
In his final game as a Cougar, he scored 29 points and handed out seven assists in Barton’s heart-breaking 82-80 loss to Eastern Florida in the quarterfinals. Montague hit 7-of-11 3-pointers in the loss, playing all but one minute.
His play at the NJCAA Tournament earned him the Bud Obee Outstanding Small Player Award giving to the top player under 6-1 at the tournament.
The Canadian played at Pacific his freshman year before transferring to Barton.
At Western Illinois he will join a Leatherneck team that went 12-16 a year ago, finishing 3-11 in the Summit League.