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WGH grad ambassador to wheelchair basketball

Special to Tribune Chronicle Lee Montgomery, center, takes a picture with the junior Grand Rapids (Mich.) Pacers team he coaches. Montgomery, a WGH graduate, is a member of the National Wheelchair Basketball Association Hall of Fame.

Lee Montgomery, a 1975 Warren G. Harding graduate and originally from Grand Rapids, Mich., was born with limb differences and he received prosthetic legs by the age of five.

It wasn’t until he turned 14 that he found something to be totally passionate about and he has been ever since.

“It was 14 years old. I was at the Mary Free Bed rehab hospital. They took patients to for an outing with the local Grand Rapid Pacers wheelchair basketball team,” Montgomery said. “My uncles packed up the family at 14 and we moved to Warren. That’s how I ended up at Warren G. Harding. I graduated the same year that Doug Franklin did.”

Franklin, Warren’s mayor, graduated from Warren Western Reserve in 1975.

After high school, Montgomery went to school in Columbus and began his playing career with the Columbus Buckeye Wheelers. He was mentored by Hall of Fame coach Gary Blosser. Blosser was inducted into the National Wheelchair Basketball Association Hall of Fame in 1978. The Wheelers won three regional titles from 1976 through 1978.

Special to Tribune Chronicle Lee Montgomery, right, takes a shot during a game he played in the 1970s during wheelchair basketball.

“I went to college in Columbus and that’s where I played on my first team with the Wheelers. Between all this, I’ve made history with the sport,” he said. “I played a lot of other paralympic sports. I did wheelchair tennis, sitting volleyball, the 12-mile and 8-mile stuff in the paralympics.”

Montgomery won a gold medal for wheelchair basketball in the 1990 Pan American Games. He also played sitting volleyball in four Paralympic games from 1984-1996.

After his three-year stint in Columbus, he went back to Grand Rapids to play for the Pacers. He ended up playing 18 seasons there. It wasn’t until 1987 that Montgomery and the Pacers made their name.

“It was 1987. We were always a top three or four team. That year that we made it to the final four,” Montgomery said. “We beat the No. 3 team in the sectional. It was in Denver for the Mid-West sectional. We were a Cinderella team. We had to deal with the twin towers twice with the Dallas Mavericks teams and then in the final.”

The NWBA works in the same capacity as the NCAA basketball tournament.

Montgomery was named sectional MVP. Montgomery led the Pacers to their first and only final four appearance. In the semifinal, Montgomery hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with five seconds remaining to lead, 55-53. Dallas would force overtime. In overtime, Montgomery hit a 15-footer as time ran out to move on to the final.

“Those games are still being talked about to this day,” he said.

In the final, Grand Rapids faced the Toledo Silver Streaks with Hall of Famer Darryl Waller and Ted Chatman. Montgomery again was the hero with a go-ahead 3-pointer in overtime with 36 seconds left. Toledo would score two but time ran out. The Pacers won their only title in team history.

“In 1988, I was asked to be the head coach for the junior Pacers team. I’m the type of person that just wants to try to help in any way. The skill level I had playing made that possible,” he said. “It’s very rewarding. If I can put a smile on a child’s face, that’s rewarding enough. It doesn’t pay too well but it doesn’t matter in this line of work.”

After his playing career ended, he became an ambassador for the game.

“A few of my friends turned me onto the Warrior games for wounded soldiers. They were coaches in the 2010 Warrior games. Their goal was to open up the options for these soldiers,” Montgomery said. “We now have basketball, volleyball, archery, weightlifting and so much more for these wounded veterans.”

He has been serving with the Warrior games ever since 2010 and has even moved up in the organization.

“When I started coaching, we had 60 players and we had to pick 10 players from that,” Montgomery said. “At the time, I got the job as head coach of the Special Operations team. I coached for the Army as well. Three years ago, someone threw my name in the hat to be the competition manager. I got that job and have been doing that ever since.”

He is now in charge of keeping teams in order while setting up play, making the schedule and making sure each game starts on time.

On top of that, Montgomery is the head coach for the Mary Free Bed’s wheelchair and adaptive sports’ basketball teams, head coach of the junior Pacers and the adult team. He was also recently inducted into the NWBA Hall of Fame.

“I’m sort of like the godfather for the sport in the Grand Rapids area. I just try to be inspirational,” he said. “Oh my goodness, the sport has changed so much from when I started. The chairs are probably 30 pounds lighter. They are about $5,000 but they are so aerodynamic and sleek now.”

As part of his story, Dove recorded a commercial on his story to show his story.

“The production crew stayed at my house for two days and got everything they needed. They did a player and a coach. I was selected as the coach for the series. It was really nice,” he said.

Montgomery said everything he has in his life has been earned. He wouldn’t have it any other way.

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