The Spire

Aiden Konold ’26

Chief Sports Editor

Earlier this year, former Holy Cross basketball players Bo Montgomery and Caleb Kenney continued their hoops journeys overseas, where they now play professionally. 

Montgomery, who used his fifth year of collegiate eligibility to play for the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) last season, signed with USK Praha of the National Basketball League (NBL), based out of Prague in the Czech Republic. Kenney signed with Spišskí Rytieri of the Slovak Basketball League. 

Kenney compiled film tapes and biographies with his agent from Mansfield and Associates Sports Agency, and sent out various clips of his college highlights to professional teams and organizations all over Europe. 

Though he looked at several teams in Greece and Switzerland, Kenney ultimately landed on Spišskí, a team based in Slovakia, because of the team’s high level of play in Tipos Extraliga and because he viewed it as a landing spot that can help him build towards his future as a pro. 

Since the team’s founding in 2004, Spišskí won a national championship in 2021 and plays in the highest tier basketball division in Slovakia. 

“I talked to some people who had played for Spišskí in prior years and they all had good things to say about the team and ownership,” Kenney told The Spire. “Furthermore, my agent was very helpful in determining their trustworthiness.” 

Trust is one of the biggest factors for players to consider when it comes to signing with an overseas professional team. Several stories have cited that players who went on to play for less established teams were not paid what they were promised. 

“It happens a lot. Teams say they don’t have the money and they just can’t pay you and it’s tricky,” said Montgomery. “It’s a trust process between you and the club. Do you really trust the guys running it or not? Stuff like that just happens.” 

As chaotic as the NCAA transfer portal can be, there is at least a set of rules governing the actions of teams. Regulation in overseas leagues is sparse. 

“The overseas process, you run into a lot of teams, a lot of organizations and clubs that are very unorganized and not professional in what they do,” Montgomery said. “So you just got to be careful with that, because you can run into stuff like that all the time. With college, obviously there’s a bigger system, there’s more people involved in it, in athletics in college.”

Montgomery said that as much research as someone might do ahead of signing with a team, at the end of the day, they can only really hope that the team will pay them what they promised in the contract. 

“You can only really give an educated guess based off what they talk to you about over the phone, because most of the time, you’re not gonna be able to go there and see with your own eyes until you get there,” Montgomery said. “So it is more of an educated guess, and just hope. It’s really a lot of hope just because it’s a tricky business. So you really never know until you know, which is the crazy part about overseas basketball.” 

Kenney credits his agent for working out his contract with Spišskí, and making sure that it was legitimate. 

“My agent corresponded with the management of Spišská [Nová Ves, another name for Spišskí] to determine the proper amount of compensation along with other varying factors within a contract,” Kenney said. “It was an important decision in the process because you want to make sure the contract is well.” 

After spending the summer playing for the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies in the Summer League, Montgomery waited for the opportunity to play overseas. Several teams offered him a contract, including teams in Belgium and Germany. But he ultimately landed on USK Praha. 

“It was all based off fit. Different teams have different fits and different play styles, so I think that’s the biggest factor in everything, is just, will this team fit your play style, and can you see yourself being there for an entire year in a different country?” said Montgomery. “Obviously, Prague is a really nice city, so that helps a lot. But I think just the coaching staff and everybody here just made me comfortable to make a decision to play here in Prague.” 

Besides the language barrier Montgomery and Kenney both face in their newest destinations, they also must adapt to a totally different style of play than they were used to playing in the States. 

“[It’s] a lot slower, sometimes a lot more organized, depends on where you start off. I mean, it depends,” Montgomery said. “You can find more athletic players. [There are] probably more athletic players in college, a lot more athleticism. But here, everybody’s a lot more fundamental, which is a good thing. People are more fundamental, and, you know, they can’t rely on athleticism. They use their pivots really good. They’re really good shooters. So I’d say that’s the biggest difference right there is just the fundamentals.”

As the season progresses, Montgomery hopes to develop his sense of pace and work on perfecting the fundamentals. 13 games into USK Praha’s season, Montgomery led the team in assists with an average of 4.6 per game. 

“You don’t really have to do too much crazy stuff to have a really good game,” Montgomery said of his experience playing overseas so far. “You can just play a solid game, and stick to the basic fundamentals.” 

Neither Montgomery nor Kenney had the opportunuty to study abroad during their time in college given the basketball schedule, so both strive to make the most of their chance to explore the world early on in their careers. 

Montgomery already found his favorite brunch spot in Praha called Venue, and he enjoys shopping at the Palladium Mall in Prague. 

“They just have everything there,” Montgomery said. 

In the few months he has spent in Spišská Nová Ves, Kenney enjoys the support from fans. 

“It’s a smaller city that is a tight community, so I’ve gotten a lot of positive interaction from the community since I’ve been here,” Kenney said. “I’ve enjoyed playing with my teammates. We’ve established a level of cooperation that helps us when we play and off the court as well.” 

Montgomery has had a similarly positive experience so far. 

“It’s been super, super supportive, so far. The fans seem great here. I can’t really ask for too much more. They guide me around, try to show me what the best places to visit are,” Montgomery said.. “They know I’m an American import, so they try to help me as much as they can, just showing me around and telling me spots to go and, just overall, supporting the team.” 

Both Kenney and Montgomery credit their time at Holy Cross as preparing them for the transition to their newest destinations in Europe. 

“I spent a lot of time learning and immersing myself both on and off the court at Holy Cross, and this stage of my journey is really just an extension of that learning and immersion,” Kenney said. “It’s been good for me as I’ve been able to transition almost seamlessly to pro basketball.” 

Montgomery, who grew up in Memphis, said that attending Holy Cross allowed him to gain a better understanding of himself and the world around him. 

“Sometimes, when you go to school for basketball, all you do is just think about basketball, and everything you do happens to be about basketball,” Montgomery said. “But I think going to Holy Cross gave me a deeper purpose to find new things I like to do outside of basketball.”

Featured image courtesy of Holy Cross Athletics