After six years as a University of Hawaii assistant basketball coach, John Montgomery is embracing the next level.

Montgomery has been promoted to associate head coach, a title that had not been bestowed since August 2019, when Adam Jacobsen accepted a coaching job at Cal Baptist.

“I’m excited to be part of this program, and I’m excited about the future and where we’re headed,” Montgomery said. “I appreciate the opportunity Coach (Eran) Ganot’s given me. I’m going into year seven. It’s been a great ride. Hawaii’s home for me. I’m really appreciative to be here and be part of this program. I guess hard work pays off. I’m just excited to help coach and get us to where we think we should be as a program.”

Ganot also announced two other promotions. Dominic Drury will be the director of basketball operations. Gibson Johnson, a former Rainbow Warrior post player, is the new director of player development.

Montgomery will continue as the ’Bows’ defensive strategist and recruiting coordinator. Montgomery will work with the post players, and mentor Mike Thomas, who recently was hired as a full-time assistant coach, and Johnson. Thomas and Johnson are former UH post players whom Montgomery coached.

Montgomery acknowledged the evolving recruiting landscape. “This was our first experience with the transfer portal,” Montgomery said.

Four ’Bows on scholarship entered the NCAA’s transfer portal this year. But the ’Bows signed three from the portal: posts Kamaka Hepa (Texas) and Jereome Desrosiers (Princeton) and point guard Juan Munoz (Longwood).

“We brought in a lot of good players with high character who are going to help us and be great ambassadors for the state of Hawaii,” Montgomery said. “It’ll be interesting to see how (recruiting) continues to evolve. A lot of new stuff happened during the pandemic. I don’t know if it’s sustainable to have 1,700 kids in the transfer portal every year. I think our goal is to recruit kids who want to be here, and love Hawaii, and be part of something special.”

With restrictions eased this summer, the UH coaches have been on the road evaluating high school players in tournaments. During the height of the pandemic last year, in-person scouting was not permitted.

“It was good to be on the road this summer and watching high school basketball and getting back to normalcy,” Montgomery said. “It was kind of like a fresh breath of air to be able to do it again. We hadn’t done it for a year and a half.”

Montgomery was a four-year letter winner for Loyola Marymount. He was San Francisco’s director of operations for a year, before serving on California’s coaching staff for six seasons.

Montgomery’s father was Stanford’s head coach for 18 years, with the Cardinal earning a No. 1 seed four times in the NCAA Tournament, two seasons with the Golden State Warriors, and six with California until his retirement in 2014. Mike Montgomery was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.